A Tragic Little Tale
by EssaTheTwerp
Summary: They were normal. They were going to go to college, have a future, and hopefully get married one day. Leah wished that things could have been that easy. But her story was just a tragic little tale. Pre-Twilight, half-lemons. L/S. Wow: Book One. Complete.
1. Prologue

Complete Story Summary: Thanks to the people who beta'd this, Hezpixie and onlybythenight1 from ProjectTeamBeta(dot)com and also the FABULOUS laurazuleta18, who will be my regular beta. Love ya bb!

I love Leah, and I really wanted to chronicle her love life, which started with Sam...so I hope everybody enjoys.

By the way, anything that you recognize as Steph Meyer's? Yeah, not mine. :)

* * *

Prologue

Her bare feet thumped across the ground as she ran away in utter despair.

She ran, and she ran, and she ran.

But now; now she would never get far enough away to leave the pain, the bitterness behind. It followed her everywhere.

The shame was the worst; its claws had sunk deep into her skin, refusing to fall no matter how hard she bucked.

But it was still anger that overwhelmed all other senses that made her scream and kick and want to rampage everything in sight.

She _could_ kill him…

No. She couldn't.

As much as she wanted to, she couldn't.

He would always have a piece of her; Leah had indeed handed it over herself, and it was the type of thing that was impossible to return.

"_How the fuck could you do this to me?_" her words were distorted with hurt and madness and she screamed one last time before sinking to her knees, sobbing until she passed out.


	2. Leah's Got Butterflies

Thank you so, SO much to my awesome beta laurazuleta18 - you rock bb! And I know this is short, but it was initially intended as the prologue. The other chapters are much, much longer.

Hope ya'll enjoy.

Thanks to any who read/reviewed!

* * *

Chapter One – Leah's Got Butterflies

Leah didn't know him, not really. It was difficult to say when she finally looked up from the fire and met his eyes, but when she did; his face was forever imprinted inside her brain.

He kept staring at her, and she kept staring back at him. Leah was alone that afternoon; all of her best friends were gone on summer vacations to Ontario or Oregon or some other exotic location she wished she could go to but couldn't.

Leah had barely kept herself entertained without them, so when the opportunity to get out and do something with other people presented itself, she jumped at the chance to get out of her house.

Now, her cheeks were flaming hot, she couldn't help but thank herself for doing so. Even if she didn't work up enough nerve to go talk to him, she would at least have someone to daydream about in her spare time (something she had more than plenty of these days).

Leah tried to scream at herself to shut the fuck up, that this was completely crazy. No good would come out of obsessing over this guy. She squinted, trying to see past the darkness and shadows the fire was throwing around.

Embarrassment made her cheeks grow warm when she realized that she did know this boy. Duh, of _course_ she did. He was in her grade, though she'd never been in the same class with him, a rarity in La Push Elementary where there were only two different teachers for every subject. Leah had not looked twice at him at school before tonight, but maybe that was because she had never looked at him in the eyes, _his captivating and warm eyes_.

Leah bit her lip as she rummaged her brain, trying to remember what this guy's name was.

And then it hit her: Sam… Sam Uley. Sam's dad was what Leah's dad Harry called a… well; he called him some words her mom Sue did not like her to say. But both of Leah's parents liked Sam's mother, Annalynn.

Leah bit her lip as she stared at him; the desire to talk to him was getting stronger.

Her nerves stifled that desire quickly. Someone as hot as Sam could not start talking to someone as... gawky as Leah, could he? Although if he did, then maybe, he would ask her on a date!

She fantasized briefly about that, thinking of going out on actual dates, without her parents sitting in the back row of the movie theater making sure nothing 'inappropriate' happened. They had finally relented on that rule now that she was going into her freshman year. The freedom had also come with an hour long lecture on responsibility. Leah had to remind herself numerous times that it would be worth it.

"Um, hey," a new voice, one that Leah had never heard, rang through the air. It was close to her, almost in her ear. Startled, she jumped and looked next to her to find the object of her musings, Sam Uley. She was shocked, disbelieving that she'd been fantasizing so badly she hadn't noticed him get up and come over to her. His deep brown eyes, almost black, were calculating and searching.

"Hi!" Leah squeaked back, and then got frustrated. She had promised herself that she would never get all gooey or dumb over a guy, even if he was as hot as Sam, _ever_. "Hi," she said again, calmer. He grinned, real big.

"Leah, right?" he asked, and Leah's heart spluttered, much to her irritation. She smiled at him a bit nervously, forcing herself to keep herself calm and cool.

"Yeah…you're Sam I think?" she questioned him back. He nodded too. Leah thought she probably looked like a frog, the way her eyes were bulging and her tongue was falling out of her mouth, as Sam brushed his dark hair out of his eyes, which were twinkling.

"Yup, that's me. So you friends with anyone here?" he gestured around the two of them.

"Um…no, I mean, not really. I just heard there was a party here tonight, and decided I'd drop by, see if there was anyone to hang out with…" Leah trailed off, shrugging.

"Cool. To tell you the truth, I don't really know anyone here that well either. I just wanted an excuse to get out of going to Seattle with my mom. She wanted me to get out and do something, I figured this was better," Sam said, and she nodded, rapt with attention.

"Yeah, I guess. I love going to Seattle, personally! Even if it is with my mother," Leah gushed, suddenly excited as she thought of the lights and all the people and the shops and cafés and restaurants…

"When I grow up," she added, "I think I want to move there. I love the city. There's nothing to do around here!" she rolled her eyes, and he nodded in agreement.

"Trust me, I know the feeling, Leah," hearing him say her name sent her heart spluttering all over and butterflies to erupt on her belly, "I lived there for a year or two back in elementary school, it was really something different."

Leah faked a little glare at him, "_Lucky_! I am so jealous of you right now, you wouldn't even believe it!" she breathed jokingly. He laughed, and Leah joined in quickly. She felt light, like she was floating in a bubble that would never pop, so high up in the sky no one would ever take hold of the her and bring her down. Leah couldn't believe she'd said something to actually make him laugh!

"Tell you what, when we're older we'll buy apartments really close to each other, and go to every place we can think of in Seattle!" he grinned. Leah giggled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She saw his eyes follow the movement and smiled bigger.

"Sounds good to me! Hell, might as well live together if we're gonna do that-" she cut off immediately, noting the way his eyes grew really big. Her face must have been red as a tomato, she was so dumb, he probably thoughts she was some kind of obsessive stalker.

Leah's bubble was racing to the ground now, and she was in distraught disbelief that she would be stupid enough to scare him away after three minutes of conversation!

Finally after a while, he replied, "We'll see. Maybe we will end up living together."

It was definitely not what Leah expected him to say, but she nodded and laughed all the same, brushing the awkwardness away as easily as if it had never been there to begin with. She really, really hoped that was a sign of good things to come, or maybe he was just being nice and was going to run for hills as soon as she turned around.

"So, wanna take a walk? The fire's really starting to get to me. I'm sweltering!" Sam joked, tugging at the collar of his shirt. Leah's heart was hammering now, her stomach flipping around, butterflies flapping away. _Or maybe he really wasn't gonna run for the hills._

"Yeah, sure," she agreed shyly, tenderly taking his hand in her own when he offered it to help her stand up after he did.

Sam didn't release her hand after she stood up, and she couldn't help but hope that they would get that apartment in Seattle one day.


	3. Sam's got a Man Cave

Thanks to my completely awesome and totally loverly beta laurazuleta18 for beta'ing this chapter! :D

Hope you guys enjoy - I have eight chapters written so far, and this is by FAR the longest.

* * *

Chapter Two – Sam's got a Man Cave

Leah turned slowly in her outfit, chewing on her lip as she surveyed herself in the mirror. Her jeans hugged her form delicately, making her look older than she actually was. Her long black hair cascaded in ringlets till her mid-back.

She was now standing half naked in front of the mirror, still debating what top she could use to finish covering herself. She picked a red tank top off the floor and held it up to her shoulders, pursing her lips and then shaking her head before throwing it back to the floor.

She pulled on a bra quickly as she heard her mother and younger brother Seth passing outside her room. She wasn't worried about her mom barging in, but the eight-year old had no concept about personal space, and that personal space was needed at the moment.

She sighed again, crinkling her nose in disgust as she tried on a blue blouse, only to rip it off at once and proceed to throw it on the floor along with the others "No's". She crossed her arms and glared at her reflection, silently pleading it to magically produce a suitable enough piece of clothing to wear on her date tonight.

The words made her grin. Her _date_. Her date… _her _date!

Her very first date. She didn't bother to count those two in seventh grade; the both of them were totally meaningless. But this particular date was with Sam Uley. Yes, yes, The Sam Uley. She casually flicked a piece of lint off of her bra, debating whether or not to just go in it alone.

And then she rolled her eyes at that stupid thought. She trudged over to a corner of her room and started digging through some scattered clothes she hadn't looked at it months. And then she found it: the perfect shirt for the occasion .

It was a purple silk tank top with three-inch straps, which her dad would approve of. She tugged it gently over her head and twirled in front of the mirror again, grinning as she watched it flow smoothly over her body, twisting slightly before falling back into place.

She took a breath and took a step closer to the reflective surface, looking over the small amount of make-up she'd put on. Some mascara to make her already long lashes stand out; lip gloss to make her pouty lips even more enticing; and eye shadow, just to complete the look. That was all she needed.

Her hair whipped behind her as she spun on her heel and skipped to the door, grapping her purse on the way. It was filled with a few necessities and some money; though she hoped she wouldn't need to spend an ounce of it.

Leah's dad was waiting in the living room as she arrived, skimming through the newspaper, seemingly absentmindedly. But Leah knew better. Her father never read the paper, he always watched the News. She suspected he was trying to distract himself.

With a sigh, she dropped next to him and wound her arms around one of his, holding on tight. "Dad, I'll be fine. You've met Sam before. He's really nice," Leah reminded him sweetly. Her dad grunted once before throwing the newspaper at the coffee table.

"I know, Leah. And I know that you are responsible enough to take care of yourself. But I'm an old man who can't stop worrying," he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and she rolled her eyes at her worrisome father.

"Sure, dad."

Leah glanced at the clock anxiously, and then gripped her handbag tightly when she saw it was three minutes to seven. Sam had said something about a movie, but she didn't understand why they would bother driving an hour to Port Angeles to get some popcorn and see a dumb romantic comedy. She at least hoped there would be some gore in it… horror films or action films were her favorite.

Leah's mother Sue came down the stairs then, a grinning Seth bouncing along in her wake. "Mom, why can't you make cookies tonight? Or a cake? It's Friday! You always cook on Fridays. And why does Leah look so pretty? Is she going to a party? Can I go with her? Are her friends going too? Are they going to talk with me? I like it when they talk with me, they always laugh and smile and stuff. Wait, didn't you say Leah was going on a date? Oooh, who is it with? Is it with George Redbird? George's sister Kellie told me he thought Leah was 'hot.' Why does he think Leah is hot? I don't really know what he means by that, I know he's not talking about fevers, cause Leah never gets sick, but he makes it sounds kinda gross-"

"SETH! Honey, calm down! Just be quiet for a moment, alright?" Sue interrupted warily, rubbing her fingers to her temples vigorously like she had a terrible headache. Seth looked at Sue for a moment, confused as to what he did, but shrugged and nodded. He dropped to the floor and reached for a coloring book, taking a crayon as well and starting to shade in a picture of a rocket ship.

Leah was glaring at her little brother, huffing slightly. She loved Seth dearly, but he annoyed her to near death! She hoped he didn't have to meet Sam and embarrass her right away; she would probably do enough of that tonight by herself, Seth would just be the cherry on top and Sam would go running for the hills.

"Leah, do you wanna come out onto the porch with me for a second, I want to talk to you?" Sue asked Leah with a small smile. Leah groaned inwardly, coming to the conclusion that this was probably another 'we trust you, you're so responsible' lecture they have been giving her since she announced she was going on a date.

She followed her mother anyway, curling up on the swinging chair while Sue opted for a wooden recliner. Leah's mom regarded her for a moment, brown eyes alert and intense.

"As mothering and old-school as this may sound, you're so grown up Leah. And so beautiful! I never even dreamed that you would be so wonderful and smart," Sue shook her head, smiling. Leah snorted a little, rolling her eyes.

"Thanks mom gives me gladness that you had so little regards and hopes towards your only daughter."

"No, really Lee, you're very smart and beautiful. Being beautiful is wonderful, a lot of men will want to be with you, make you smile. But sweetie, the more important part is being smart. Those brains are important, those are what count. And they better be put to good use. We know you'll make the right decisions, Leah," Sue murmured, completely serious.

Leah's eyes were wide as she nodded. Her mother had always been better at giving her 'talks' than her father, and this one would stick in her brain for a while.

They both sat in silence for a few moments, gazing down the street in the direction Sam would be coming in from. The foggy quiet was broken by Leah's squelch of delight.

"Mom, oh God, he's here!" she breathed, clutching to her mother's arm in nervousness. Sue chuckled and gently pried her fingers off one by one.

"Calm down, Lee. You look amazing; he's going to love you!" Sue assured the unspoken fears in Leah's head. She took a deep breath as the car pulled into the drive, heart spluttering like a jackhammer when the passenger door opened and Sam slid out, dressed in khaki pants and a button down blue shirt.

She stood as he approached the door, her hands balled into tight fists at her side.

"Hey, Leah," Sam greeted, sticking out his hand. Leah took it tenderly, shaking it barely once before quickly letting it drop. Warmth spread through her arm starting at where he'd touched her.

"Hi Sam, how are you doing?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Good, excited, a bit nervous," he answered honestly. Leah beamed…she liked honest guys, and it was comforting to know that she wasn't the only one nervous here.

"Nice to meet you, Sam," Sue stepped forward then, and Leah watched with narrowed eyes as Sam shook his hand with her mother's. Her parents were everything to her, and if he couldn't be respectful to them he was in for a world completely void of Leah.

"Nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Clearwater," he smiled at Sue warmly, which assured Leah that she wouldn't have to dump his ass in the next five seconds.

"Leah has been very excited, so for your own sake you better not disappoint her," Leah's mother warned, resulting in Leah hissing under her breath and Sam's cheeks tinting red.

"Well, I hope I don't disappoint her either," he smiled cheekily. Sue turned to the SUV Sam had come in and waved to his mother light heartedly.

"You can ask Anna to come in, if she'd like..?" Sue offered gently. Leah hissed again, knowing that once her mother starting talking to someone, she would never stop. Sue glanced at Leah, rolled her eyes briefly, and then sighed.

"Never mind, then. I'm sure we can catch up when she drops you two off. And by the way, Samuel, I can assure you a much more brutal questioning and answer from Leah's father when the date has ended," Leah's mother winked, and she blushed as Sam's eyes widened.

"And Leah, remember to be back here by eleven, or else," Sue called after them and Leah winced, she knew that already.

"Sorry about that. My parents are a bit… keen. Or overprotective you could say."

"Nah, it's cool. My mom is a little overbearing sometimes too, but I think that's mostly because it's just the two of us," he said quietly. Leah automatically took Sam's hand, squeezing it softly before letting the both of them drop.

Everyone knew of the infamous Joshua Uley, notorious for cheating on his poor wife Anna and being a drunken bastard. He'd run out on both Anna and her son eight years ago, and Leah knew that Anna never spoke of him to anybody, refusing to acknowledge that he ever existed most of the times.

Leah didn't, however, know how Sam felt about the ordeal, so she didn't mention a thing.

"So, what movie are we seeing?" Leah smiled, changing the subject. He beamed, opening the back door and letting her slide in. He sat next to her and they buckled their seatbelts.

"You'll see," he whispered to her, barely fitting the words in before his mother started speaking.

"Why, hello Leah! It's so wonderful to meet you. I've heard about you, and I am very proud that you're Sammy's first date. He could have done worse, of course. But he's been so happy about this, and he has quite a surprise in store for you!" she exclaimed brightly, making Leah jump a little, shocked. Leah didn't think she'd met anyone as bubbly as Anna, and that was after she spoke but five sentences. Anna bounced in her seat a little, biting her lip to keep from smiling too big as she swerved around the corner and starting heading down the road.

"Mom, please don't ruin the surprise!" Sam jumped in, and she threw her head back and laughed one of the loudest guffaws Leah had ever heard. Sam didn't seem bothered at all, flinging his arm over the back of the seat and rolling his eyes with a smile.

Leah swallowed nervously before replying, "It's wonderful to meet you, Mrs. Bright."

Anna blinked, surprised at being addressed as such, and then giggled. "It's nice to meet you, too, Miss Clearwater. None of that nonsense now, call me Anna please," she said softly. Leah smiled back at her and nodded. Anna fell silent after that, deciding to let the teens talk. It was their date, after all.

"So Sam, what movie are we seeing?" Leah whispered to him again, refusing to give up. The corner of his mouth curled up into a half-smile.

"That, Leah, is a surprise."

She huffed, crossing her arms, "I'm going to be pecking you with questions the whole car ride, you do realize?"

"Well then, you don't have to keep it up long. We're here," Sam laughed. Leah looked around in surprise and confusion. There was a little brick shack in front of them; two broken windows and a door almost completely unhinged from its frame were the only features adorning it.

Leah frowned. This definitely was not a movie theater. It looked like nobody had stepped foot in it in years. "But… aren't we going to Port Angeles?" she asked. Both Anna and Sam chuckled.

"I never said we were. I said I was taking you to a movie, remember?" he smirked. Leah's eyebrows pushed together in puzzlement, but he only rolled his eyes playfully at her.

"Come on, let's go! I'll call you when we're done, mom!" Sam called cheerily to his mother. She waved goodbye as Sam grabbed Leah's hand and tugged her out of the car. They both watched her drive away for a moment, their hands still clasped together.

Leah couldn't help the goofy grin that spread across her face when she realized Sam didn't want to pull away anytime soon, and that was great cause she didn't want to pull away anytime soon either.

"How are we going to watch a movie in this old place?" Leah asked him, and he feigned an offended face as led her to the run-down shack.

"Hey, don't badmouth it. This is like my favorite place ever… I thought it'd be way cooler than going to some dumb restaurant or cheesy chick flick. The only movies that either of us would be mildly interested in are rated R, so we wouldn't be able to get in," he shrugged with a small smile and then turned to the door, carefully prying it open.

Leah walked in, took a look around, and felt her mouth pop open. She had never imagined a place like that could have had electricity, but the dim light the light bulb on the ceiling gave proof that it did.

There were three beanbag chairs directed toward a small, old TV that looked much too worn to still be in working condition. A mini fridge was balanced precariously on top of the smallest microwave Leah had ever seen. They were connected to a single power chord that plugged into a lone outlet.

Behind Leah, Sam stuck the door back in place and laughed out loud at her bewildered expression. The inside wasn't anything fantastic, it was pretty crappy really, but it was still starkly in contrast compared to the outside of the shack.

"Surprising, huh? My mom showed it to me when I was like, four. She said she used to hang out here with her friends, back when it still looked nice and pretty and the electricity wasn't shut down," he grinned. Leah furrowed her brow.

"If the electricity is shut down, how-"

"About two years ago my mom bought it from the old guy who used to own it. We're not sure why he bought it in the first place because he didn't do a damn thing with it, but she fixed the inside up a little and brought this stuff in here. She said the two of us could come here when we needed a break from other people, from life. I didn't put it to much use, but I thought it would be cool to bring you here… I mean, if you think it's too private we can go somewhere else…" he trailed off, suddenly nervous and a little disappointed at the prospect. Leah was still standing in shock, blinking around.

It was rather small, maybe twelve by twelve feet. But it was still freaking awesome. "This is amazing."

Sam beamed and collapsed on one of the beanbags, bringing Leah down with him to land on another one. It was red and the most fucking comfortable thing she'd ever sat in.

"So the television runs okay?" she asked him and he nodded, getting on his knees and grabbing a DVD case from next to it and throwing it at Leah. She glanced at the title and then broke into a smile.

"Arachnophobia!" she giggled happily. When Leah had first talked to him, he had asked her what her favorite movie was, and she had named just that one, plus Jaws. (She liked freaky-mutant animal movies)

"Yup, I thought you might like it," he said cheekily. She rolled her eyes at him and threw it back so he could put it in.

"You know, my parents may just kill me if they find out I was in the woods alone with you," Leah sighed. He smirked at her, shrugging his shoulders. She couldn't help but look into his dark eyes and melt all over again.

"We're just off the main road, Leah. Plus, there's another house just on the other side of those trees," he said, and she blushed. That wasn't exactly what Leah was talking about… He seemed to understand about three seconds after he finished speaking, and then blushed as well.

"Um, anyway, take the remote. I'll go get us something to eat," Sam smiled lopsidedly at her, making her heart stutter a bit, and then went to the mini fridge. She skipped the commercials eagerly to get to the main menu and pressed play, sitting straight up for the beginning scene.

Sam snuck up and dropped back into his blue beanbag and handed Leah a spoon. He then dropped a humongous ton of ice cream at their feet and peeled the top off. Her eyes widened when she saw the chocolate, caramel-y goodness inside.

Leah made an appreciative sound in the back of her throat before digging in, getting a gigantic scoop and plunging it into her throat with a moan. Sam was staring at her, trying desperately not to start rolling on the floor laughing. Thankfully, or at least for Sam, she didn't notice this.

As Leah started to get into the movie, she dropped the spoon into the bucket and focused all of her attention on it… or at least half of her attention on it. The other part of her was very aware of the fact that Sam Uley was attempting to sneak his beanbag closer to hers without her noticing… and failing, of course.

But Leah didn't protest at all. She moved her right arm a little so it was closer to Sam, palm lying flat out, tempting him like crazy.

Sam was nervous, and felt completely ridiculous for it. He was fourteen, he shouldn't feel so jittery on a first date… and yes, sadly, this was his first date. He was only comforted in the fact by knowing that she wasn't that much of a go-getter either.

Finally, his hand twitched just enough to make contact with hers and she made the next move of seizing it and clutching it with all her might, a small smile on her face as she watched a tiny spider crawl into the old man's bedroom slipper.

She felt Sam jump a little when the old man did, and giggled quietly to herself, "Have you ever even watched this before, Sam?" she whispered to him. He shook his head, eyes wide. Leah laughed a little harder. He should have thought of his pussy-ness before watching this movie.

Throughout the flick, Leah brushed in closer and closer until their heads were only a few inches apart, their hands wound tightly and their pounding heartbeats in sync. They felt each other's breath, they were aware of each strand of hair, each goose bump that had risen, every single second they were with each other was making them even more aware of one another… By the time the movie was halfway over neither of them were paying attention to it.

Leah shifted; sweat beading on the back of her neck. Sweating was bad. She glanced at the ice cream and then frowned when she saw it was a mass of goopy cream. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She couldn't get over the idea that she was still in this tight little space with Sam… totally alone.

She peeked at him out of the corner of her eyes and then flushed when he caught her. _He was looking too_, a small voice reminded her. She smiled a teeny bit at the thought.

And she also reminded herself that she could stick the heel of her hand on the brink of his nose and push up, effectively shoving his cartilage into his brain and killing him. Of course, that was a last resort, and she didn't want to do that to anyone, much less Sam…

She scolded herself for even considering it.

Sam was confused. One side of him was telling him that he was damn lucky to get Leah fucking Clearwater for his first date and to try not and ruin it by throwing up or something, the other was telling him to bolt for the frigging door and never look back, because every knew that Leah was kind of crazy.

And then she looked over at Sam and smiled, and he decided to shut the second part of him the fuck up, because her smile was gorgeous. It lit up her face and brought light to her darkened eyes, even though they were beautiful without that light.

They couldn't stop sneaking glances at each other, squeezing each other's hands, smiling the whole time. Their hearts were hammering away, their toes curled in their shoes with nervousness, but they didn't shift away from each other.

No, they came closer and closer, until their cheeks were all but pressed together. It didn't bother the two of them, this closeness… in fact they thrived on it, feeding off of the joy and the buzz of excitement that zapped through their skin.

As the end credits rolled, they let out a breath they weren't aware they had been holding. Sam leaned forward, popping the disk out and sliding it back in the holder.

Leah watched every movement, biting her lip softly. They had barely spoken during Arachnophobia, but she seemed to know him so much.

"So, what did you think of it?" she giggled. Sam was looking unnaturally pale and trembling just slightly.

"It was the best movie ever," he said weakly. Leah burst out laughing, not being able to contain her giddiness anymore.

"I would never have believed that you would be such a wimp, Sam Uley!"

"Hey, those were _spiders_, Leah,_ spiders_! Those non-insect things are so creepy," he shuddered. Leah rolled her eyes.

"Sam, they're little. The ones we have around here are harmless; we can crush them all with our feet!" She shook her head, as if being afraid of spiders was the most ridiculous thing in the world. Sam didn't care if it was ridiculous, and he really didn't want to site them out and try and kill the poisonous demons.

"Yeah, alright. Leah, you're just fearless, aren't you?" he smiled a little. She snorted, shaking her head just once.

"No, no I'm not. There are many things that scare me," she sighed, a grin tugging at her lips. Sam raised an eyebrow at her as the air weighted down on them once more. Leah licked her lips and Sam shivered lightly.

"So…" Sam said awkwardly, attempting to break the tension. Leah smirked.

"So do I have a most annoying younger brother that goes by the name of Seth? Why, yes I do! Thank you for asking!" Leah was never one to let a situation get uncomfortable, and that especially came with people who let their 'so…'s' hang out.

Sam laughed gratefully, "No problem. But I think you're pretty lucky. It's just my mom and me."

"Yeah, don't tell anyone this, but Seth's pretty cute. He never stops talking and is a walking bottle of Pep, but he cheers you up. Poor kid is clueless sometimes… I don't like to take him out in public much."

"Heh, if he embarrasses you I'd really like to meet him," Sam chuckled. Leah scoffed at him, crossing her arms. She flopped down on her rainbow colored beanbag and sighed loudly, scrunching her nose up.

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't say that… and holy crap, these are comfy!" Leah squealed as she squirmed deeper into the material. Sam chuckled, nodding in agreement as he too lay down.

"I know. They're really old, though. I think they were my mom's before I was born so they're really worn in. I think that's what makes them comfy," he sighed.

"Mmh," she hummed. Their faces were slightly red from having their heads hanging upside down. They sat in the little shed in silence for a moment, and Leah closed her eyes as her hand once again moved towards Sam, two of her fingers finding his and gripping them lightly.

Her pulse and his quickened at the touch, but neither of them so much as flinched. Finally, Leah cleared her throat. She liked silence sometimes, but she wanted to get to know Sam, not go to sleep.

"Sam, wanna play Seventeen Questions?" Leah asked timidly. It was totally cliché, but what else could she say? 'Tell me about yourself?' No, that was worse. He seemed surprised and a little confused.

"You mean Twenty Questions?"

"Eww, no! Twenty Questions is way, _way_ too common! I do not like common, Sam," Leah warned, making a face. Sam suppressed a sigh, knowing that he had his work cut out for him.

"Alright then, let's play Seventeen Questions. You go first."

"Hmmm, well- Wait a second, I want to tell you that there is no bullshit questions like 'what's your favorite color?' And that includes food, just so you know. If you want to know that stuff you'll have to get to know me further and figure it out on your own," Leah smiled, cocking an eyebrow to test him. His palms got a little sweatier as he looked at her, because frankly she was gorgeous.

Numbly, he nodded.

"Well then, Sam, do you have any trepidation about your middle name?" she breathed, deciding it'd be best to start out easy. He shifted uncomfortably, making a face.

"Yes, I do," he huffed. Leah giggled, flipping around so she could look at him easier while lying on her belly.

"And what is this oh-so-terrible name?" Leah probed, a huge smile lighting her face. She thought it rather silly that some people didn't like their middle names; they were their _names_ for goodness sakes!

"Well… um," Sam swallowed; he knew that she wouldn't rest until he revealed his middle name, "Wendell, okay? My middle name is Wendell," he mumbled, reddening. Leah smiled a little, but didn't laugh as he'd been expecting.

"I don't think of any names as bad names. Know why? Because that is part of what makes a person themselves. I only know one Samuel Wendell Uley, and that is who you are. That's who you'll always be. And I don't make fun of who someone is. That's not who _I_ am," Leah pointed out in a sure voice.

Sam looked at her for a moment, in total awe. He had never met a person like her before, and was dumbfounded for a moment before saying something, "So _who_ are you?"

"Hmm. That's one intriguing question, Sam, and that counts as one of your seventeen, by the way. I'm Leah Tallulah Clearwater. I love rock music and movies about creepy animals and Stephen King books. I don't really like anyone who judges anyone else, and I hate it when people take forever to order food, because honestly, how _hard_ is it to decide between a steak sandwich and a double bacon-cheeseburger?"

She seemed radically annoyed for a moment, and then her face smoothed into a smile as she turned to a stunned looking Sam, "And that eliminates all the easy questions for you, by the way," she winked. Sam laughed, shaking his head a little at her. Leah was definitely unique.

"My turn!" she exclaimed, eyeing Sam almost evilly. He met her gaze steadily, but was taken in by her beautiful brown eyes. She noticed this, and blushed a bit, before returning to her normal composure.

"Alright, Sam, what's your favorite time of the year and – oh don't give me that look! I was going to say, and tell me _why_! I mean, be deep about it, or it doesn't count. We have to be deep about our answers to get to know each other, or this game will never work!" Leah ranted. Sam chuckled, his way of letting her know that he understood.

"Alright, alright! Let's see...I would have to say autumn. It has leaves, I love leaves. And it signifies the beginning of a new year, or at least right now, because of school. I like new beginnings, fresh starts. I think everyone should have a second chance, even those that did something almost unforgiveable," he shrugged. Leah smiled. That _was_ deep.

"Good answer, Sam. I think I might just keep you around," Leah smiled, sitting up and wiping her hair out of her eyes. She caught a sight of her watch and frowned, heaving a deep sigh.

"Damn. It's quarter to eleven, Sam. I have to get home soon," Leah sighed regretfully, her lip jutting out in a pout. His own lips turned down as he checked his watch as well.

"I guess you're right. Hold on, I'll call my mom to pick us up then," Sam sighed, making sad puppy eyes that Leah burst out laughing at.

Sam stood and stretched before moving to the corner and leaning against the wall, taking out his miniscule cell phone and punching in the correct numbers.

Leah stood too, waiting until he was done to slip her hand through his, this time not pausing for a second. Sam flipped the switch off and propped open the shack door before pushing it back in. Leah noticed that he didn't move to lock the door or put any guard to stop burglars from dropping in. She voiced her concern and he laughed out loud.

"Leah, do you see the exterior of this? I know La Push is just abundant with criminals, but it doesn't really look like there's anything worth it to steal in here, does it?" he asked, eyes twinkling. Leah rolled her own eyes, punching him in the shoulder teasingly.

"Oh shut it!" she hissed. He gave their hands a small squeeze and cocked his head to the side as he grinned at her.

"Shutting it!" Sam smirked. They stood in comfortable silence for a moment, both staring tranquilly in the thin forest surrounding the house. Not far away, Leah heard the sound of a dog barking, a child screaming in delight, and smiled. They weren't alone by any means.

Finally, she leaned her head on his shoulder and spoke, "So, do you and your friends come here a lot? Or is this rare?" Her voice was unusually soft.

Sam paused, licking his lips gently before answering, "Sometimes we do. It's so small here, it's not like we have a lot of space. But, you know, when they don't want their parents or my mom watching us, we come here," he shrugged.

Leah giggled a little at the thought that popped into her head, suddenly seeming unable to not voice it, "So it's your man cave?"

Sam jumped at the louder question, eyes wide in shock as he looked at the still chuckling Leah, who was trying her best to look innocent. Sam didn't buy it.

After a moment in which he was frozen, he laughed in bewilderment. "My _man cave_? Fuck, Leah!" Sam howled, grinning like mad. Yup, she was awesome.

Sam was still smiling when his mom pulled up, and Leah was still giggling. Anna wanted to know what happened, but all Leah could get out without bursting into more laughter was, "Sam – has – cave," which really wasn't that much of a help and confused Anna even more.

Anna shook her head with a little smile when Leah's laughter finally died down, as they had pulled into her driveway. The darkness was settling in, and Leah was happier when she found she was right on time for curfew. She and Sam slipped out of the backseat with Anna following, explaining as she went that Sue had invited her in for some cookies.

Leah told Anna to go on in, and she and Sam sat on the swinging bench outside, hands loosely intertwined as their jumbled, excited thoughts ran over her mind of the past evening. Leah closed her eyes and let her head fall sideways on Sam's shoulder, relaxing into him.

Suddenly, though, their peace was interrupted by heavy footsteps a flood of light as Harry Clearwater stepped onto the porch while flickering the light switch to on. He fixed Sam with a narrowed eyed glare as he took a seat across from them.

It was silent for a moment before he spoke, "So how did everything go?" Leah was now sitting upright with pursed lips, staring evenly at her father, silently pleading him to not go overboard. She and Sam were no longer touching, though that didn't mean Harry hadn't noticed it when he walked out.

"It went fantastic… I had a really, really fun time!" Leah broke the tense air with a big smile, forcing her voice to sound soothing and truthful. The truthful part wasn't hard, the soothing tone… not so much.

Harry's eyes swiveled to his daughter, and then back to Sam, considering. "My wife tricked me, she sent you off without me getting to talk to you. She said it would be much better if I spoke to you two after the date… I think maybe she was scared that I would…say something I ought not to," Harry paused, and then chuckled.

"I had this whole speech prepared, too… I suppose I'll have to change some things about it now… Alright, let's see. If my daughter didn't have a good time, or you treated her bad in any way, I will personally see to it that you are taken care of."

"If you two did anything out of line or inappropriate, I'll find out about it… trust me, I have my ways," he smiled a little, watching Sam carefully. He appeared to be done, so a very tense Sam nodded his head.

He knew that the Clearwater's were a close family, one that protected each other, and he also knew that if Harry ever had the need to 'take care of him', it wouldn't be good.

Leah let out a huge breath, her hand making its' way to Sam's and clutching it. She rolled her eyes at her dad, though her fingernails were digging into Sam's skin.

"Yes, I'm sure you do, Dad," Leah said wryly, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Harry laughed, winked at Sam, and then brushed himself as he stood.

"Remember, we're going to be sitting on the other side of that window, you two!" he warned before stepping back into the house.

Leah turned to Sam, slightly apologetic. "Sorry about that," she breathed worriedly. Sam shrugged, fixating a reassuring gaze on her.

"It's fine, Leah, really. Some of my friends have experienced much worse… Like Johnny Redmond; did you hear what Billy Black did when he took out Rebecca?" Sam chuckled. Leah's eyes widened, and then she laughed a little as well.

Leah had indeed heard about that, as did everyone else in their grade. Some of the rumors were pretty wild, and Leah only knew what really happened because she was pretty good friends with Rebecca and her twin Rachel.

"Who hasn't, Sam?" she smirked. She sighed contentedly as she again let her head fall to his shoulder, and he slowly wrapped an arm around her, resting his own head on hers and closing his eyes as well.

A sense of comfortableness and peace washed over them as they sat there. The past night bad been so easy, so effortless. Leah loved the feeling, and she definitely wanted to go out with Sam again… nerves fluttered in her stomach when she realized she didn't know how Sam felt about her, and prayed silently that he liked her too.

Sam was feeling the exact same way, just the roles were reversed. He was sure he'd acted like a total loser the whole time, and she would never want to do anything with him again.

"I hope we can do this again," Leah finally said tentatively. Sam let out a big breath of relief, and then coughed to cover it.

"Yeah, definitely; I had a really good time," Sam smiled back, resulting in the miniscule quickening of Leah's heart, and her smile to melt just a little more.

"Good," she quirked a grin, then opened her mouth to say more when the door opened, and a laughing Anna came out, followed by Sue.

"Thanks so much, your cookies are amazing, though I would never taint the recipe by attempting to make them! Oh Sam, we better get going, by the way!" she chirped, and Leah snuck Sam a sly, albeit a bit disappointed smile. Sue motioned for the two to stand, and they did so immediately, because Leah's mother was just not a woman you could ignore.

Leah leaned into her mother's side as she watched Sam and Anna drive away.

Sue kissed Leah's head softly, hugging her tight to her chest. "We'll talk about everything in the morning. I'm sure you want to get to your room so you can – err – rest," Sue smiled as Leah grinned, nodding a little, before bounding up the steps.

Sue chuckled a little at her happy daughter before heading to join Harry in their bedroom.

When Leah got to her room, she flopped on her bed, kicking off her shoes and picking up the cord phone as she did so. She dialed her best friend's number and it rang four times before Emily Young picked up.

Emily lived up on the Makah reservation, but she and Leah were still the best of friends. They shared everything, and got together whenever they could. They would stay up late into the hours of the night talking, laughing and sneaking countless cans of caffeinated Coke from either of their kitchens.

Leah's father Harry was first cousins with Emily's mother Marianne, which made the two second cousins, although both felt more like sisters.

"Leah, could you have at least waited until morning to call me?" Emily teased lightly, holding back a yawn as she answered. Leah rolled her eyes, knowing very well that Emily had probably been waiting up for Leah's call at the end of the night.

Emily was gorgeous, even more gorgeous than Leah (although Em felt the opposite), which was saying something because Leah was one of the prettiest girls on the rez, not that she thought that herself. She had already been on dates by herself last year, albeit there were only two of them, but Leah had waited for Em's call, excited to hear what her best friend's experience was.

"Well fine, then. I won't tell you how it went. I'll talk to you later, sweetie-" Leah started.

"NO! I was just kidding! Gosh, Leels, you didn't have to threaten me, did you? I would never be able to go to sleep! I would die of curiosity!" Emily complained with a giggle. Leah rolled her eyes.

"Ask me how it went!" Leah demanded.

"Hmm, alright, Leah…how did your date go with Sam?" Emily asked, drawing each word out slowly to test Leah's patience. Leah didn't even bother to make a retort, she was so eager.

"Yeah, yeah, anyway, it was amazing, Em!" Leah rushed, grinning as changed into her pajamas and threw her clothes on the floor absentmindedly…she really should start putting them in the hamper like her mother asked her to… nah, not tonight.

"What movie did you see?"

"_Arachnophobia_!" Leah giggled, collapsing onto her covers with snorts of laughter. Emily made a whining noise on the other end of the line.

"Yuck! Well, I'm glad I never went on a date with someone like him. I hate those yucky movies, though I 'spose you like them, which is good… wait! _Arachnophobia_ is an old movie. Where did you watch it?" Emily asked. Leah beamed, eyes sparkling as she recounted where Sam had taken her.

Emily ooh'd appropriately as Leah told her the details, and how Sam hadn't even tried to kiss her, something she found very sweet and respectful. Leah Clearwater certainly did not do first date kisses…or at least not when she was in ninth grade. She wanted her first kiss to be special, not an awkward and classical on-your-front-porch peck.

"Wow, Leels! You're so lucky! They just don't make 'em good up here. Maybe Sam is 'the one'!" Emily giggled. Leah laughed out loud.

"Maybe," Leah allowed, still chuckling. The idea of finding 'the one' in high school was ludicrous to her.

"And by the way: twenty questions? Are you in a cheesy rom-com or something?" Emily mused, and Leah grumbled under her breath.

"Shut it! It's better than just randomly interrogating him! And I made a rule that states very clearly, no cheesiness. If there is even a whiff of cheese, I will kick him to the curb," Leah stated matter-of-factly. Emily smiled at Leah's outgoing nature fondly, although she couldn't see it.

"Oh, and I just remembered, we'd technically didn't play Twenty Questions… we played Seventeen Questions, which is way better," Leah added. Emily snickered.

"Seventeen questions? You are so weird. He probably thinks you're a freak now, Leels," Em teased lightly. Leah rolled her eyes at her best friend, idly picking up a book by her bedside and flipping through the pages absentmindedly.

"Yes, well, then he must be attracted to freaks, because he said he wanted to go out with me again."

The other end of the line was silent, and Leah paused in shuffling through the pages of her book, wondering what she'd said to make Em upset, before she spoke.

"Leah Clearwater…I cannot possibly believe you waited to tell me this critical information until now. I am so very disappointed in you," Emily whispered sternly, and Leah relaxed, laughing a little. Leah hated it when she and Emily were mad at each other.

"Are you going to come down soon? You haven't been to La Push in _forever, _ma belle! I'm getting lonely here! All I have are the ever pleasant Black twins," Leah sighed dreadfully, making whimpering noises. Emily giggled.

"Well, my mom was just talking about coming to visit Harry, so yeah; I'll probably be coming down soon. And the Black twins aren't so bad!" she defended. There was silence, and then we both broke out in laughter.

Rachel and Rebecca were Leah's good friends, but they fought… a lot. More than was normal for regular siblings, even between Leah and Seth or Emily and her older brother Roy. They still didn't like to be separated too much, and they had the same friends. Most didn't mind it; they found the twins' bickering rather amusing, but Leah found it mostly annoying, although she loved the both of them.

She barely put up with it, and when Emily told Leah that she was tired of hearing all the complaining, she invited the twins over the same day of one of Em's visits, and now…well, Emily understood Leah's pain.

"Well, I'll talk to you tomorrow then, sweetie."

"Yup, Leels, see ya," she chirped before hanging up. Leah did so as well and flipped off her lamp, sinking into the covers of her bed.

Leah replayed the events of the night in her mind, smiling lazily at the great time she had had with Sam. She was still smiling when sleep overtook her as she sighed happily at the thought of a 'next time'.


	4. Leah's Got Mustard

Thanks to my amazing beta, lauarazuleta18, for being so kick-ass! I love you, bb!

Hope everyone enjoys the chapter, and thanks to those who reviewed! Remember, I'd even appreciate if someone left a smiley face, and constructive criticism.

* * *

Chapter Three – Leah's Got Mustard

"Wait a whole minute! He _actually_ asked you on _another_ date? After you _didn't_even kiss him! Wow!" Rebecca breathed in utter amazement. She was currently hanging upside down over her bed with her mouth hanging wide open, while Leah sat against the wall across from her.

Leah rolled her brown eyes and popped her gum at Rebecca and her twin Rachel, who was sitting as far away from Rebecca as possible. Katharine Connweller was sitting next to Leah, her face buried in a magazine and seemingly oblivious to what was going on around her.

"We aren't all sluts, Becca," Leah sighed and Rebecca made an offended noise in the back of her throat. Rachel air high-fived Leah and Katharine snorted as Becca then threw a shoe at her twin. She caught it easily and threw it to the floor.

"I am not a slut! I just know how to give guys what they want, and then, they almost always give me what I want," she fixated a naughty grin on Katharine, who finally looked up with a disgusted expression on her face before flipping Becca off.

"Maybe you're not a slut, but you sure are a whore."

"Aren't they the same thing?" Rachel asked, looking thoroughly bored with the subject.

"Huh! You guys are just the best freaking friends in the freaking world, aren't you? And YOU Rach! I expected better of my own sister!" Becca accused, dramatically flailing her arms around her and landing with a_ thump_ on her head.

"Why, Rebecca, _why_ must you remind me that we're related every five freaking seconds?" Rachel howled, banging her fist against the wall for emphasis.

"Why do I hang out with you guys? I always get headaches and shit," Katharine drawled, flipping a page of her magazine without looking up. The twins scowled and Leah laughed, nodding along, they could never have a normal hour without any of them throwing themselves into a dramatic fit.

"Whatever, Katharine; who'd you hang-out with if it wasn't for us?" Rachel demanded. Leah raised her eyebrows at Katharine and she smiled a little, flipping her hair.

"Um, my little sister?"

"Please! I don't get how you can be so buddy-buddy with your freaking sister. It makes no fucking sense! I mean, Rach and I are always together, but spending some quality time with Jake? Uh, no thank you!" Becca waved off Katharine's statement.

"Kimberly and I just click. And she totally worships me, which helps. It's like having someone agree with everything you say! Freaking wonderful," she threw her entertainment magazine on the floor and grinned at all of us.

"The only person in my family I'm not fond of is my mother. 'Do your chores, don't swear, and don't drink!' Blah, blah, blah! Why doesn't she just say 'DON'T EVER HAVE FUN!' and lock me in the house."

The twins scowled, for once not saying anything as they glared at Katharine. Leah didn't say anything, knowing that they probably took offense to Katharine saying anything bad about her mom. They thought all mothers were saints, and hated anyone who said otherwise.

"Anyway! Let's get back to me, shall we? Emily said she was coming down to prep me for it, and she wanted to know if she could hang with you all when I'm gone." _Total lie_, Leah thought, _but at least it lifted the awkwardness from the room._ Em probably wouldn't mind…she did find the twins a bit amusing, and she liked Katharine enough.

"Ooh, Emily! She's so funny! I love it when she gets flustered!" Rebecca grinned, licking her lips looking mischievously at the ceiling. Rachel grinned too and stroked her chin, staring off into space as her mind ran wild.

Katharine and Leah shared a glance, although Kat's was more amused than annoyed. In fact, Katharine seemed just as excited as the twins, if not a little more.

"You know, sometimes it gets really awkward having three bi-sexual friends who fantasize about my cousin, like, right in front of me," Leah grumbled. Becca and Rach rolled their eyes and Katharine laughed.

"The twins aren't bi, Leels. They just like to have fun. I, on the other hand, definitely am," she pointed out, shoving her finger into Leah's shoulder.

"True, Kathy, very true," Rachel and Rebecca said in synchronism, followed by them turning to each other with an annoyed glance and flipping the other off.

"Call me Kathy again and I'll brain-fuck you."

"What _is_ brain-fucking, exactly?" Rachel inquired curiously, her long black hair falling in waves down her back like a roll of the night.

"Duh, Rach-ach, it is when one fucks another one's brain," Becca answered for Katharine, her own hair pulled into a messy ponytail on the top of her head, so much of it falling out of the binder Leah could barely imagine how she could keep track of it all.

The twins were identical in every aspect, except for a minor detail in which they confided to no one, so everyone would get confused with their identities. You only found out if you took the time to inspect them and found that Rebecca had a miniscule mole next to her nose and Rachel's hair was slightly less curly. Also, Becca always wore her hair up and Rachel would be damned if she ever 'committed such a serious offense to her hair's police force'.

Both girls had a full figure, complete with the second biggest boobs ever to grace La Push Middle School and full lips every guy wanted to place on their own. They were almost oblivious to their own beauty, or at least acted like it. Very few girls had the self-esteem big enough to hang out with the two.

They didn't have many female friends besides Katharine and Leah, and sometimes the latter got a little jealous, though she'd die before admitting it.

Katharine was completely different than Lee, of course. Her whole look screamed that she did not try at all to be so beautiful, with _the_biggest boobs in La Push High, high cheekbones, curly black hair down to the small of her back, startling blue eyes, and plump, red lips, her popularity was greater than anybody else's.

The girl had a mouth like a sailor, her attitude was usually bored, though Katharine didn't take any crap; she would kick anyone's ass who messed with her, that was for sure. No guy had enough courage to ask her out, so she was usually the one in charge.

"Well bitches, I'm outta here. I have a hair appointment, and I'm still asking my momma for blonde highlights," Kat flipped her wild black hair over her shoulder, curly strands splaying across her back as stood. Becca crinkled her nose and Rachel pretended to gag; even Leah frowned.

"Babe, why must you wish for such awful things to bestow upon your poor, dear hair?" Rachel sighed dramatically as the other two girls nodded. Leah wasn't so concerned, but Kat had amazing hair that didn't need tampering with. She would hate for Kat to ruin it.

Katharine rolled her eyes and flipped all of them off on her way out, her hips swinging back and forth like she owned the freaking world.

Leah shook her head in amusement when Rebecca threw Kat's magazine at her back, aiming it perfectly so it shot right in the middle of it. Katharine scooped it up without looking at them.

Rachel then announced radically that she needed to rest because otherwise she might have a terrible heart attack because of Katharine's beautiful hair for fear of destruction.

Leah and Rebecca took that as their cue to leave, and they soon made their way to the beach, kicking the stones and making faces at the gray sky. "I don't get it," Leah finally said, breaking the carefree attitude they were sulking themselves in.

"Don't get what, exactly?"

"I don't get why you're so… feisty, why you're so willing to go around kissing every guy you can get your hands on and then dumping their ass."

"Their sorry ass, don't forget, wisatsu'upat," she noted. Leah raised a brow at her use of Quileute… Becca wasn't brilliant when it came to languages in the first place (she had never gotten more than a C in Spanish in her life), plus only the Elders knew the ancient words of their people.

"What? My dad offered to teach me, and I was interested! So what?" she huffed, obviously insulted by Leah wonder-face at her knowledge of something.

"Well what does wisatsu'upat mean?" Leah asked suspiciously. Becca rolled her eyes, seemingly amused.

"It means 'woman'. Now hista tala, or at least hista alita," she giggled. Leah frowned, giving Rebecca a 'look'.

"And what, exactly, do those two statements mean in English?" she growled as Becca grinned hugely.

"My full sentence translates to: Now, give me money, or at least give me a fish."

Leah picked up a handful of sand and flung it Becca, who screeched wildly and started to sprint down the beach, kicking up sand with the heels of her feet so Leah was left spluttering and stumbling, trying to catch her breath through the hail of sand assaulting her.

Finally, she tackled Becca and both fell to the ground, now covered in dirt and bruised from the kicks aimed at each other.

"Kiko, kiko, kiko! Go away, go away, go away!" she called out jokingly, pushing Leah limply against the chest. She rolled her eyes but rolled off of Rebecca to the damp beach next to her.

"Becca, you think I'll have a good second date with Sam?" Leah asked timidly, her eyes searching the clouds in search for something, though she wasn't sure what.

Rebecca was silent for a moment before speaking, "Was ho."

Leah knew what that meant. She pushed up from the ground, shooting Becca a glare before stalking off. "Hey Leels, I was just joking! Aw, come on, get back here!" she complained loudly.

"Kiko, Rebecca!" Leah called back, starting towards the path to her house. Leah could hear Becca sigh loudly and turn the opposite direction to the Black home.

Leah knew that Rebecca was joking, but she still had hope for Sam, hope that maybe he would be her 'high school sweetheart'. She thought that that would be fricking awesome, that she found him before high school technically even started.

And Becca was being a little bit of a bitch, so Leah lost interest in her. Although, it was good that Kat had gotten closer to Rachel and Leah to Becca because Rach had no tact at all; Rebecca was damn sensitive compared to her twin.

Leah considered briefly calling Emily, but shook the idea out of her head. Her best friend was coming down the next day and she'd bothered the girl less than an hour ago… What Leah needed was someone so overly peppy that she could just barely handle being with the person.

So she set off to find her little brother.

Seth was talking with this kid named Jase when Leah found him sitting in the backyard, waving a stick around and screeching that the pirates were coming to eat them. Leah laughed, because really, this is exactly what she was talking about.

"We gotta protect our land!"Jase screamed, scrambling next to Seth while waving around his own stick.

"Hey Sethy! What're ya doing?" Leah sang, lazily walking to him. He scrunched up his nose in disgust as he and Jase turned to her.

"I'm hanging out with Jase, Lee Lou!" he shot back, making her scowl and slap the back of his head sharply.

"Don't call me that, kid. I can call you Sethy because I'm the older sibling. You don't call me shit because you're the younger one, okay?" Leah snorted, crossing her arms and silently daring her baby brother to object.

"I'm gonna tell mom you said the s-word! And also, that's not a rule. It doesn't make any sense! Right, Jase?"

"Well, eh, actually I agree with your sister. Older kids rock!" The kid beamed and Leah sniggered at the affronted look on her brother's face.

"How could you even say that, Jase? You're always supposed to agree with me!" he protested. Jase shrugged, seemingly unmoved by his utter betrayal.

"I have a little sister, Seth. And I am so the boss of her!"

"Right, okay… Katelyn does whatever she wants, and you can't say anything about it!"

"Hey," Leah interrupted the two boys' argument with an amused smile, "Now that I think of it, I'm going to change my statement… its sisters who're the boss of all their siblings. The older, the more powerful they get." Leah was nodding her head knowledgeably as the boys stuck out their tongues.

"That rule is just stupid," Seth's friend whisper-screamed to him, sneaking precarious glances to Leah every other second, as though afraid she'd kick him behind his back.

She found this all pretty damn funny, and giggled as snatched the stick out of Seth's hand, deciding that she was right to come find him in her shitty mood.

"Hey, Leels give it back!" he demanded, scrambling up and using Leah's body as a ladder. With a grunt, she thrust it into his arms again, rubbing the spot on her leg he'd accidentally kicked gingerly.

"Jeez, Sethy, are you trying to decapitate me?"

"What does de-caps-err-tate mean?" Seth asked curiously, Jase's face a mask of his friend's. Leah's eyes glinted evilly as she bent to his level, whispering the answer. He looked moderately horrified and when Jase shot him a questioning look, exclaimed that 'he would never, ever try and rip Leah's leg off!'

"Yeah, right!" Leah sniffled, dramatically throwing her arms over her eyes and making sob noises.

"I promise, Leah! I wasn't!" he argued. Leah just shook her head and spun on her heel, drifting away.

Seth just heaved an annoyed sigh and started playing with his friend again.

When Leah got to her room, she grabbed the phone by her bedside and stared at it intensively. Sam had promised he'd call her midday today, and it was already four o'clock. There were no messages. She was starting to freak out.

And then she told herself to get a freaking grip, because, really! She was not some clingy, obsessive… She sighed and threw the phone onto the floor, stopping her line of thinking in its track.

She was a fourteen year old girl. She had a right to freak out over a boy… a little.

When the phone finally rang fifteen minutes later, she nearly jumped nine feet into the air with nerves. "Hello?" she answered, almost breathless.

"Is this Leah?" he asked, for a second sounding confused.

"Yes, yes, sorry! I was just… um, jumping…" Leah felt like kicking herself. Why, why, _why_ would she be randomly jumping?

"Oh," he paused, chuckling, "Well, I just wanted to see how you were doing," he said casually, like he couldn't care less. This made Leah giggle.

"I'm doing fine, Player. My dad still isn't thrilled with me, and my bro is annoying as ever, of course. And then there's school, which starts on Monday…" Leah paused, frowning faintly, "So I retract my previous statement, I'm doing pretty crappy. I need something to cheer me up," she added coyly.

"Oh really? Well maybe you need to do something more interesting. You know, to catch your attention," he laughed. Leah rolled her eyes.

"Hmm, and what in the damn world will catch my attention?"

"Well, I mean, I know that your schedule is probably bursting, but if you hadn't heard there's a bonfire tomorrow night some guys from Forks are going to, and I was wondering if you wanted to go?" Sam asked his voice light. But Leah could detect the very faint nervousness underlying his question, and curled her toes as she pretended to consider her answer.

"Hmm, yes I had heard about it… I mean, my schedule really is so busy, but I suppose I could fit you in for say… the whole night? Pick me up at eight?" she asked as casually as he had.

"Sure, that sounds great." Leah could tell from his voice that he was grinning, which made her smile widen considerably.

"See you tomorrow, then?"

"Sure," he answered steadily, and they both hung up.

Leah, with her cheeks flushed, pushed past some dancing bodies to a bench at the edge of the sandy beach, towing Sam along in her wake. He was laughing as she shoved him onto it before plopping onto her own seat.

"Oh shush, Sam! Aren't you supposed to be jealous of other guys hitting on me, anyway?" Leah growled, pushing her dark hair behind her back and swiveling to glare at him. He smirked at her, eyes raking her bare shoulders and smooth arms.

"Not when the guy hitting on you is a creepy seventh grader!" she groaned, and then shuddered as a flashback swept through her mind.

"Ah, come on, Leels, Jared is funny," Sam chuckled. Leah almost growled at him, her grimace widening. "Besides," he added, "It's not like we're official or something. I know all the seventh graders are tough competitors, so I won't mind if you, err, what was it? 'Hook up with the hunks,'" he burst out laughing.

"Oh shut up," she groaned, rubbing her forehead tiredly, although she was also sporting an amused smile.

"Sorry, it was just hilarious. You looked like you were in a sauna with winter clothes on!"

Leah rolled her eyes again, sniffing indifferently while crossing her arms. "That was a weird metaphor, by the way!"

"Oh, come on, don't diss my grammar skills!"

"Your grammar skills! What are you talking about? You told me English was your worst subject!" Leah snorted, raising a questioning eyebrow at the puffy boy.

"But I am still amazing at it! I _am_ a genius, haven't you realize that already?"

"No, I haven't," Leah answered after a short pause before bursting into laughter. Sam soon joined her, and in their laughter, Leah discreetly moved her hand closer and closer to Sam's, until their fingers brushed.

Sam, noticing this, immediately wrapped her fingers around his and jerked them closer a little harder than he meant to, so Leah fell over him, her chest resting on his and their chins bumping.

"Well, that was graceful." She sounded amused, and indeed she was holding back their laughter, but kept it at bay due to Sam's obvious embarrassment.

"Err – sorry," he stuttered, flushing. Permitting herself a small giggle, she pulled herself out of his lap, but didn't break the skin contact she enjoyed by instead leaning on his shoulder. She pulled their hands more tightly together, playing with his fingers and swinging them idly around.

It was a rather peaceful moment, them sitting there on that damp bench together. The party was in full swing around them, Forks teenagers laughing and moving in sync with the beat from the large speakers, but they were almost oblivious to it as they gazed at each other, taking in the other's body and face and eyes, drinking in every inch they could.

Finally, the moment was broken when a rather tipsy junior accidentally stumbled and flew onto Leah's lap.

"Whoops! Suri, alma fa-halt, Hon," she slurred before getting to her feet again, bumbling unevenly down the sidewalk.

"Well that was pleasant," Leah groaned, wrinkling her nose as she stood. Sam nodded before seizing her hand again.

"I should probably get you home, because if I don't get home soon my mom will probably ground me," he cocked a smile.

"You're such a good boy," she cooed, stroking his arm and fluttering her eyelashes dramatically.

"Oh ha, ha," he huffed as Leah snickered, "I just want to be in her good graces once school starts. She's really strict about all that," he motioned with his hands and she shrugged sympathetically.

"My dad is pretty laid back, but my mom is probably a thousand times worse than yours. I still gotta love her, of course," Leah shook her head.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. My mom is pretty scatterbrained, but I don't care more about anyone else," he sighed. Leah's heart softened a little as she saw the distant look on his face, slightly contorted in pain. She gripped his hand a little tighter before pulling it over her shoulder and burying herself in between his hand and shoulder.

Sam kissed her cheek, and she shuddered at the even closer contact passing between them. They walked slowly, dawdling as long as they could. When they reached Leah's block, Sam paused.

"I really do love spending time with you, ya know? You're a… a really cool chic," he said, and then froze, apparently in horror. Leah, however, doubled over in hysterics.

"I officially think that you are one cool dude, Sam!" she choked, wiping her eyes. "Jeez, that's some serious... ketchup!" She busted up at her own, made up lingo, and Sam broke out of his fixation, cracking up as well.

"Ketchup? Come on, Leels, we don't have ketchup," he sniggered.

"Oh, so what do we have then?" she smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"We have mustard," Sam concluded after a moment, and Leah's face lit up.

"Oh, I like that! I love mustard way more than ketchup!" she cheered, throwing her hands up and wiggling her hips in a kind of victory wiggle. Sam watched amusedly, until she suddenly froze, apparently horrified.

"Wait!" she screeched, "Wait, we can't _both_ have mustard! There's one mustard bottle, and one ketchup bottle, and each of us has one. And I have the mustard, so you must have ketchup," she argued. Sam stared at her for a moment, bewildered. Finally, he laughed.

"Alright, fine. I'm ketchup, you're mustard," he grinned. She giggled, smiling again. And then, suddenly, her face fell again.

"Now what's wrong?" he asked, exasperated.

"It's just…" she stopped, took a deep breath, and then started again, "I'm mustard, and you're ketchup… so who's the poor relish?"


	5. Sam's got an Embarrassing Mother

Thank you to my amazing beta for being so awsome in getting this done quickly. :) AND for being the only reviewer...

I don't want to pressure anyone, but it would definitely gaurentee faster updates... *wink, wink*

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Four – Sam's got an Embarrassing Mother**

"Crap, we only have study hall and Physics together this semester," Rebecca frowned, looking at Leah's schedule imperiously, comparing it to her own.

"I can't believe they made it so Physics is required," Leah groaned, making a dramatic face as she leaned against her locker.

"Oh, jeez, Leels, why do you hate science so much? I love it! It's my best subject!" Rachel gushed from her locker just a few spaces away. The two had always had lockers by each other, and most of the times it was very convenient, 'most' being the imperative word.

"Well, I'm more of an English and American History person, if you know what I mean," Leah sighed in a very bored voice. She had had this discussion many, many times with Rachel, and it never went anywhere.

"Ugh, please, shut it, both of you, I already have enough of this stupid discussion every other day," Kat groaned as she approached, her books balanced in her left arm and a purse dangling from her right, her hair was as perfect as ever and every inch of her beauty screamed 'effortless'.

Her droopy eyes surveyed the three of them in a bored way before she made a half motion to Rachel to follow her before whirling around and somehow managing to get through the crowd of students without making contact with a single one of them.

Rachel rolled her eyes, flipped her hair in annoyance, and followed Katharine suit.

"They are such bitches," Rebecca groaned under her breath while shaking her head and making her ponytail flail all around and whack Leah straight in the forehead.

"Couldn't agree more," Leah huffed while shaking her head.

"Look, I know you guys just love to discuss how amazingly gorgeous I am, but really, you can give it a rest! Especially you, Leah! Sammy boy is your boyfriend, after all," said a low, but loud, voice from behind the two girls. They jumped and then turned, glaring, to spot Sam and Gregory Feldman.

Sam and Leah were both looking at Greg with disgust out of the corner of their eyes, but Rebecca squealed and then slapped his arm, hard.

"You mother fucker! We would never talk about your handsomeness, because, _hullo_, it does _not_ exist!" Every word came out as an angry snarl, like she was a cat watching her prey escape right under her nose, unable to do a thing.

"Say all you want, Ms. Black Number Two," Rebecca's eyes went even darker than before, her teeth bared, "but one day, you will be my wife!"

"Yeah, if it's arranged!" she harped while huffing and throwing a mean glare Greg's way.

"Ah, cruelty: one of your lovelier traits," Greg smirked, and Leah glared at him. Rebecca looked like she was losing an internal battle, the winning side saying that she needed to punch this jerk till stars permanently surrounded his freaking head.

"Let's go, girls," Sam spoke for the first time, grabbing both Rebecca and Leah by their elbows and forcing them out of the area. He shot a menacing look at Greg, a warning for him to not follow unless he had a death wish.

"Hey, get your hands off of me! As a free, twenty-first century woman of America, I have the right of free speech and –!"

"I'm trying to get you away from that jackass, Rebecca," Sam sighed before letting the both of them go. Leah glared at him as well, a stern scowl on her face.

"Don't manhandle me, Sam," she replied crisply. The two looked at each other with frowns for a couple moments, before bursting into laughter.

Giggling, Leah stepped forward and pecked his cheek before taking his hand again and leaning against his shoulder.

"You guys are so gross," Rebecca gagged, shaking her head violently. Leah shrugged carelessly at her friend before kissing Sam again, only on the lips this time. They would risk detention for it, but neither cared much about that at the moment: Sam's mom didn't give much thought to him having detention and Leah would be damned if either of her parents found out she did.

"Yeah, because there's no reason, none at all, that there's a rumor you and your sis are the biggest sluts in the school," Leah remarked in a bored voice. Rebecca snorted, uncaring, before flipping the both of them off.

The bell rang and Rebecca flitted off, remarking that she'd gotten the worst luck in the fucking world for having homeroom on the other side of the school. Sam and Leah, however, had plenty time to get to their first class. They were delighted to compare schedules and find that they had at least four classes together first semester and five the second semester.

"Ms. Waken is supposed to be a real witch," Sam finally commented, and Leah nodded, scrunching her nose in aversion.

"Yeah, Rachel's older friend had her and she absolutely hated her, and she's a straight-A Ms. Perfect, if you catch my drift," Leah frowned faintly. Sam groaned loudly.

La Push High was a very small school with a miniscule population of ninety students, with approximately twenty-five people in each grade. There was one floor, plus a basement where the extracurricular classes, gym and lunchroom were located, plus the freshman lockers. She and Sam were unlucky enough to have Gym first hour.

They kissed again as they arrived outside the locker rooms, positioning themselves so Coach Hanley wouldn't see them. Leah was grinning as she slipped her gym clothes on and pulled her long hair into a pony tail, occasionally pressing her fingers to her lips in excitement.

Sam and Leah had kissed in the middle of their third date, which had been in Port Angeles. They were waiting for Sam's mom to pick them up when she turned to him, about to talk, and he grabbed her hand and pulled her body closer. It had lasted only a few precious seconds, but Leah had relished every bit of it. It was her very first and she was pleased it was with somebody like Sam, who was sweet and serious, yet she seemed to bring out a funny side in him that only she got to see.

All of the girls were chatting as they lined up in the Gym, folding their arms and glancing around as the boys wandered over. Coach Hanley eyed everyone with a touch of disdain, the sweat on her upper lip making the hairs there more noticeable.

"Okay," she barked, "We're going to start with some running. Expect fifteen laps every day, any complaints earn a deduction of ten points," she said this all very fast, and everyone blinked once or twice to try and sort out what all she had said. When they did, they could barely suppress their groans.

"Fifteen laps?" Leah groaned to Sam, who shrugged while cracking his knuckles.

"That's not so bad. We have to do thirty for football," he murmured, and she looked at him in horror. Leah loved sports. She loved softball and football and swimming and hockey, but she did _not_ like running, _at all_. Running was like a form of torture to her, specifically shaped and formed to make gym as miserable as possible.

"You can all start now!" Hanley barked, clapping her hands twice. Her shorts rode up on the inside of her leg and everybody could hear the material scratch as she walked to her office and sat on the lone swivel chair, fixating beady eyes on the students as they began at a slow jog.

"I frigging hate her already," Leah spat. Sam smirked at his girlfriend and sped up, calling a taunt over his shoulder for her to run faster as he did so. She scowled at his backside, but zeroed in on his ass, which, if she did say so herself, was pretty fine. Yeah, she decided, it was a nice view.

"Bet I can beat you!" Leah called, grinning happily. Sam snorted.

"Yeah, right, Leels!" he laughed, and suddenly went just a little faster.

He always stayed in front of her, and if she started to get at the same distance as him, he would sprint as fast as he could to get before her. Finally, when they were almost at the end, he seemed to go slower, and when they fell side by side, Leah beamed. And then, as they approached the mark of the final lap, he fell behind her altogether so she beat him.

"You're sweet," Leah smiled at him as she met up with him after class had ended. He grinned back at her, but shrugged.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Leah m'dear. None at all," he said heartily, stroking his chin. She punched his arm and his lip pulled down, his eyes going wide as he gave her the puppy dog face. She scrunched her nose up and made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat, pretending to gag.

The rest of the day passed in a blur of teachers, classes, and catching up with the people that Leah was sort of friends with but not enough to see them much over the summer. It was very depressing to be back in school, but good to see people Leah cared about.

As she tucked her hair behind her ear at the end of the day, Sam crossed over to her and pecked her lips softly. As he started to pull away, Leah caught the back of his head and pulled him closer again, lingering in the feel of each other.

"I have to go. I'm getting a ride home with Willie Craw and he doesn't have an awesomely hot girlfriend to say goodbye to like I do," Sam smirked. Leah giggled before drawing him in once more, inhaling his slightly musky scent.

Rebecca and Rachel were walking to their own home, which was on one side of the rez while Leah and Kat lived on the other. Someone could honestly walk the length of La Push and be perfectly fine, but it was much easier go their separate ways and call each other later.

Leah waited patiently outside the high school with Katharine for her younger sister, Kim, to get out of the middle school. She was now in seventh grade, though she still admired Kat; Leah only wished Seth had that kind of admiration for her.

Of course, the girl was the shiest she had ever met. She and Kat both had the same brown eyes, but Kim's hair was stick straight compared to Kat's wavy black locks.

Kim approached Leah with blazing cheeks, and as Leah smiled at her she ducked her head. Kat rolled her eyes and made the cuckoo sign with her finger before seizing her sister's books and slinging them in her own bag.

"How was school, Kimberly?" Kat asked, smiling. Kim shrugged, twirling a piece of hair between her thumbs. Kat huffed and slugged Kim's arms playfully.

"Com' on, Kimmy! Lee's not, like, a stranger! Talk!" Kat burst in an exasperated voice, grabbing her sister's shoulders and shaking them as she walked backwards. Kim blushed redder and then shook her head again.

"It was fine," she finally whispered, totally mortified. Leah felt sorrier for her, and, out of pity, turned to Kat and started to talk about their math teachers. She had Mrs. Moeller, while Kat had Mr. Gregg, and Leah had to admit that that was pretty unfair, because Moeller was an old bitch and Gregg only gave out homework two days a week.

Kim liked Leah very, very much for that. But she still wouldn't talk in front of her. Kim didn't talk in front of anyone except for her family, her best friends, and her teachers if it was absolutely necessary. It was just too embarrassing.

The rest of the walk home was filled with light banter between the two older girls, which Kim enjoyed thoroughly as their arguments were highly amusing and completely pointless, something she wasn't really part of.

Leah waved goodbye to Kat and Kim from her door once they reached her house, and they waved back as she shut the front door.

"So, that means that 'x' would equal…negative eight?" Leah bit the end of her pencil and squinted at her textbook inquisitively. Sam leaned closer to the page and surveyed the question, apparently exhausted.

"Yeah, I think so…or at least that's what I got," he agreed, and then immediately seemed to realize that this was the wrong thing to say.

"Well if you and I both aren't sure, we'll just have to do the problem over again!" she said in a rather high voice before grabbing the textbook and dropping it into her lap.

It was a beautiful afternoon, perfect for Halloween. Although Leah really thought that it would be better if it was a Saturday or Friday rather than a Tuesday…at least they had school off on Wednesday because of a teacher's workshop.

"Come on, Leah, relax. This stuff isn't due until Friday," Sam said soothingly. He placed his hands over hers and led them to the table between the two, gently prying her fingers off the book. Once the book slammed onto the table he brought their hands to his cheek and drew her body tight to his chest, kissing her lips so softly she barely felt the flutter of his breath against her parted mouth.

"You are so good at distracting me," Leah whispered, her hands still rested firmly against his chest. He laughed, and as he did so she pressed more firmly into him so she could feel the tremors roll down his stomach.

"You have no idea," Sam smirked, brushing a piece of hair out of Leah's eyes tenderly. Her smile turned evil.

"Ah, so you wish to be distracted too, my pet?" she purred, and his eyes widened as he nodded yes. She licked her lips once, just to make sure they weren't chapped, before kissing the end of his chin. She dragged her lips to his left, blowing softly. He shuddered.

She grinned and launched herself over to his chair. She landed on top of him and he grunted under her sudden weight, though she ignored this and began to massage his head, her knees gnashing into his hips so her breasts dipped down, super close to his head.

He panted under her and she giggled before moving down so their heads were in the same place. She began to kiss his lips over and over again, so much that in a small corner of his mind he wondered if she was trying to eat them. The other part of his mind told him to shut up, because it didn't even matter if Leah ate him. Who wouldn't want Leah to eat them?

Suddenly, a car door slammed, loud and hard, and Leah and Sam jumped simultaneously. She threw herself off of him and hit the floor with an audible '_oomph_.' They both looked around, startled and then turned a boiling red as they spotted Sam's mom, looking amused, shocked, and like she was about to burst into tears.

"Having…fun?" she forced out bitingly. Leah looked at her shoes embarrassedly, as Sam began to stutter out a reply. Anna let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

"Actually, maybe this would be a good time to…talk with the two of you," she said. Leah and Sam both froze, even their breath refusing to stay normal. Sam met Leah's eyes slowly, both of them reflecting each other's horror.

"A…talk?" Sam finally croaked, and Anna chuckled.

"Yes, son, a talk," she answered firmly. Leah looked up gradually, nerves rattling her stomach. She thought Anna had liked her, but now wondered if she was totally off the mark. Sam took a deep, fearful breath before grabbing Leah's hand and leading her inside the house dully.

They all got situated around the kitchen table before Anna cleared her throat twice, looking at both of them very closely before speaking, "Alright, you two have been dating for about two months now…" She paused again, apparently trying to recollect herself.

"Mom," Sam started, but she held a hand up, glaring.

"No, no. I can do this. Alright, as I was saying, I'm afraid you two are freshman now, so you're relationships might start to be getting just a little more serious. When you are fourteen, that's when the peer pressure is really starting to pick up."

Leah's cheeks were heating up in flames, even against her normally dark skin. Sam was completely mortified.

"Well, I just want you two to understand that you're both very mature and I believe, in the end, you'd make the right decisions," she paused to offer a smile to the obviously embarrassed two. "I don't want you two having sex, but if you do, I won't be able to stop you and…and please go to someone to get birth control and condoms, at least. Sam, if you get Leah pregnant I will hit you so hard the mark will be permanently stamped on your cheek," she hissed as an afterthought, making Sam swallow in fear. Anna turned to Leah and she shrunk away.

"I won't be saying anything to you, dear, but if I find out before your parents I will tell them, and I think that'd be punishment enough for you." Anna stood up once she finished speaking and the two teenagers did the same.

"You can go now," she finally laughed, her face returning to its usual lines of kindness. Leah relaxed again but didn't have much time because Sam was dragging her out as fast as he could, like if the house was on fire and she was covered in flammable clothes.

"Oh fucks, Leah, I'm so sorry!" he groaned, but she offered a small smile.

"It's no biggie, Sam. Oh, stop looking so miserable, it's not like you're the only one whose mom has embarrassed them before," Leah rolled her eyes. When Sam shook his head, frowning still, she shoved hard against his shoulder which made him almost fall over.

"Hey!" he yelped.

"You just wait, and my parents will do something a million times worse," she warned, waggling a finger at him. He finally grinned and then snorted.

"Whatever, Leels," he teased. She stepped closer to him and then wrapped her arms around his waist, breathing in his scent delicately. Her fingers tickled his sides and he chuckled inadvertently.

"Hey, Rachel, Rebecca, and Kat are inviting over some guys and having a little party down by the beach tonight…do ya wanna go with me?" she whispered, nibbling on his ear happily. He nodded against her neck while kissing it again and again, his tongue gently massaging her skin. She moaned and leaned into his body a little more.

"Yeah, I'd love that," he whispered huskily, "But, in the meantime, let's go find somewhere a little more private, preferably out of my mother's sight." Leah giggled and nodded before gripping his elbow and pulling him closer to the cover of the forest.

The red straw was very confused.

Straws generally weren't sad or angry or happy, and especially not confused. But this one was. For one, it was in a pocket. What was a straw doing in a pocket, especially a girl's pocket? This girl had really soft, really plump lips, so the straw was secretly hoping that it would be of use again.

But once straws were used once, they weren't ever needed again. The other straws had told them, though maybe this particular straw had heard wrong. Their voices may have been muffled through the paper wrapper.

He didn't even know why this girl had kept him. Did he have extra length so there were more liquids in each sip? He also wondered why she was calling him 'Magic Make-out Maker'. It was very hard to hear what was going on through the thick material of the pocket, but maybe if he strained really hard…

"…stupid idea, Becca…Dad would…if we got caught…"

"…such a prude, Rachel. I don't know why…only Leah would be…"

"Leah would freak, and you know it!" the one called Rachel screeched extra loud, so the straw heard all of it. He wondered idly who this Leah was and why she was a prude.

"What's the big deal…just a little beer," Becca, the straw assumed, said dismissively. Rachel's retort was lost as a hand was thrust into the straw's pocket. He felt a shiver of fear go through him as the fingers almost, _almost_, crushed part of his delicate plastic body.

"Whoa, almost broke this baby," Becca whispered before gently kissing the straw's body. The straw saw what must have been Rachel's face loom in front of him with a crinkled face.

"What's that _thing_?" The straw was very offended. It was not a thi- okay, it was a thing, but that didn't mean she had to sound so grossed out when speaking about him!

"Spanky is not a thing! He's a straw!" Becca said defensively, and the straw, apparently named Spanky he reminded himself, felt a rush of gratitude for this savior of his.

"Oh my god, Becca," Rachel rolled her beady little eyes. Spanky didn't like Rachel and her wrinkly hands on her tiny hips with the stare that clearly told Spanky she wanted him in the trash. "Why did you keep a freaking straw in your pocket?" she snorted. Spanky really wished he had eyes so he could glare at this mean little girl.

"Because, dear sister, it's a magical straw!" Spanky wondered why Becca thought he was magic. It was just a simple red straw…but if it kept him out of the trash…eh, why not? He was flipping magical!

"How is…" she snickered, enraging the straw even more, "How is _Spanky_ magical, exactly?" Becca huffed, glaring severely at this supposed 'sister' of hers.

"I swear, when I drank from this baby, every guy stared at me. He makes my lips look hot," she answered primly. Spanky felt very happy and accomplished. That must be his job, to make Becca look hot.

"You're so weird," Rachel shook her head, "And, by the way, if we get caught for the beer that _you_ brought, I will _kill_ you!" Spanky heard this, and a rage he had never known before burst through him. No one would hurt Becca…he had to make her hot or he might be thrown in the…the trash!

But that couldn't happen. No, Spanky wouldn't let it. Even if he himself had to kill Rachel to stop her from killing Becca, he would not let it happen. As far as he knew, no straw had ever been accused of murder, and he hoped that it would stay that way. He would have to plan it perfectly, for he could not talk, move, or really show that indeed, he was a thinking object…Because objects could think.

Oh yeah, he had to make Becca hot, and he definitely had to murder Rachel, because she was an evil one, and evil sisters had to be destroyed.

Leah really, _really_ didn't want to open her eyes. Her tongue felt fuzzy, her head was pounding, and her whole body felt so fucking heavy, as if there were weights pressing down on every inch of her. She moaned, trying to remember what the hell had happened the night before…

And then she gasped as small glimpses and snippets of memories came whipping back, though they were confusing and blurry.

There was beer, a lot of beer. Becca had brought it, along with three other guys for her, Rachel, and Kat. Sam…what did Sam do? Leah squeezed her eyes shut tighter as the scenario where Sam had refused to drink the alcohol, Leah too…and then Rachel had said…oh god, what had she said?

Something about Leah being a…a prude, was it? She thought so, anyway. And then all of them, except for Sam, were getting drunker and drunker…

All the blood that had possibly been in her face flushed as she relived making out with a straw, (what the hell had that been about?) having leaf fights with Kat, playing Ding-Dong-Ditch, and some…other…much worse things that she couldn't bear to completely form in her head.

The rest was kind of a…blank. But wait, she was in her own room, how had she gotten home? She went still with utter horror when she realized that her parents must have been awake when she came home, totally wasted.

Leah was dead.

She just hoped that everyone would figure out who the murderers were so they could go to jail and feel just a least bit guilty about killing their only daughter.


	6. Leah's got Quite a Temper

Thank you to my amazing beta for being as amazing as she is! Love ya laurazuleta18! ;P Muaak!

And also thanks for the reviews!

* * *

Chapter Six - Leah's got Quite a Temper

Leah stared at the Port Angeles Mall with a nervous feeling spreading through her body. She and Sam had celebrated his birthday, February second, yesterday and today she was meeting up with Rachel, Rebecca, and Kat at a nice restaurant located in the aforementioned mall.

"They're your best friends, Leah," she breathed to herself, closing her eyes in an attempt to reassure herself, although it didn't work very well. Finally, she sucked in a deep breath and entered the tiny place. It only took her about two minutes to locate the three girls hanging out outside of the popular restaurant –well, the most popular inside the miniature mall-, Valeria's.

Leah smiled hesitantly as she approached them, and they did the same. They stood by each other awkwardly for a moment before Rebecca took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Look, Leah, we're all really sorry. We had all been drinking that night, and for us, it's not really a big deal. We didn't think about you at all when we got it, and we're so sorry for that. I didn't mean any of the things I said to you, and neither did Rachel or Kat." She finished with a sheepish expression, the other two girls nodding in agreement.

"I'm really sorry, too, you guys. I'm so stubborn; I should have come up to you guys before this to apologize myself; but I didn't, and what I said to you that night was just mean and uncalled for and…and totally untrue. I was just angry, okay? You guys are not what I accused you of at all, you're all amazing and I love you, and I, I've missed ya girls." Leah finished while looking at her feet, not daring to meet any of their eyes.

Suddenly three bodies slammed into her and they were all laughing and grinning and saying sorry over and over. Leah smiled. Yep, this was where she belonged.

"So you're agreeing to this?" Rachel asked excitedly, bouncing up and down in her desk. Leah rolled her eyes to the ceiling and nodded…_again_.

"For God sakes Rachel, I've said yes how many freaking times?" she asked in exasperation. Rachel only smiled wider at that.

"Hmm, maybe six…but still, it's absolutely unbelievable that you, Leah Clearwater, agreed to go on a fucking double date! You swore in, like, fourth grade you wouldn't ever do that!" Rachel beamed, still bouncing. Leah had to smile fondly at the girl, though she was still a bit annoyed.

"Well, that was in fourth grade, Rach…not now, when I have a good, lasting relationship with Sam. I wouldn't have gone on a double date for the first one, but it's okay now…" Leah suddenly grinned, bouncing along with Rachel.

"God, did you know that it's been six and a half months since Sam and I got together? I didn't remember when it was an actual six months, but now that it's March twenty-first…" She trailed off, still beaming, and Rachel let out a mini scream.

"Holy crap; that's, like, forty years in high school time!" Rachel said, shocked. Leah winked at her before turning to the front of the room, just as the bell rang.

Leah hated school, as did every normal person she knew (plus all of the abnormal ones). This day wasn't any different, though there was the whole double-date thing to look forward to.

Once she arrived home after school, she saw Seth run to his room to play one of his handheld games and then entered her own room. She threw around the idea of dressing up special for tonight, and settled on wearing her favorite pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt with a red sweater.

It wasn't exactly fancy, but since they were planning on going to The Lodge, it really wouldn't matter much. When her parents got home she informed them of her plans and they smiled and said that that was fine, as long as she got back by curfew, nothing new there.

Leah said of course she would, though she knew if she didn't they would be none the wiser…

Sam still couldn't drive, so Wyatt, which was the name of Rachel's boyfriend, picked everybody up instead, since he was a senior. Leah and Sam slid in the backseat while Rachel and Wyatt rode in the front.

It was a short drive to Forks and then to The Lodge; the four of them filed in and only had to wait a few moments before they were seated. Wyatt and Rachel slid into the seat and Sam slid Leah's sweater off for her. Rachel watched the movement jealously and then shot a glare at Wyatt out of the corner of her eye.

He didn't even seem to notice this as he picked his menu up and stared at it intently. "Hungry, Wyatt?" Leah joked, and he glanced up. He and Leah were sitting directly across from each other as were Rachel and Sam, so it was easy for Wyatt to wink at her without the other two noticing.

Leah was confused but didn't comment; it probably didn't mean anything and she was just being her over exaggerating self. They made idle small talk before ordering their meals, which arrived soon after.

"This looks so good!" Rachel exclaimed before taking a bite of her small salad. Leah rolled her eyes before picking up her cheeseburger and taking a huge romp out of it, chewing with ecstasy. Sam was watching her with wide eyes, mouth open a little bit, and she giggled and wiped the side of her mouth where she felt some loose ketchup had dribbled.

She glanced at Rachel, who was wrinkling her nose in disgust but chortling all the same, and then Leah looked at Wyatt and reeled back, shocked. He was _staring_ at her _rack_. She hissed and stomped his foot, hard, under the table, making him jump about a foot in the air and yelp like a freak.

Leah glared as Sam and Rachel turned to look at him, resulting in his cheeks flushing. He straightened and mumbled something about him thinking there was something in his shoe, to which the other two teenagers looked in confusion at. They shrugged it off and then went back to their meals.

"So," Wyatt finally said once he'd caught his breath, "Leah; what do you do in your spare time?" he asked, trying to show her a winning smile. Leah was getting pretty fucking pissed. How dare he come on to her, with Leah's boyfriend and his own fricking girlfriend sitting right next to him, who was also one of Leah's best friends?

Angrily, she stabbed her fork into one of French fries and then stuffed it into her mouth. Sam shot her a look, wondering what was wrong, but she didn't answer him with words, instead choosing to jerk her head in Wyatt's direction.

'What?' he mouthed. She pursed her lips and then mouthed back at him.

'He's coming on to me.' Sam didn't seem to understand at first, and then his eyes widened and he turned to eye Wyatt threateningly.

"I like to make-out with my boyfriend," Leah answered back vehemently, and Rachel sniggered.

"Too much information alert, Leels," she said with amusement, and Leah managed a weak smile back at her. Wyatt was frowning at her, but when he noticed that she was looking in his direction, his winning smile was back on.

"Well, maybe you need another set of lips to test your skills on," he murmured in such a low voice that only Leah heard him. Her temper flared and she leaped to her feet.

"We're leaving, Sam. Right now," she spat, and he agreed at once, wondering with fury what he had done… Rachel was looking at the two in confusion, slight hurt written in her expression. Leah shot her a look before seizing her elbow and tugging her to her feet as well.

"Leah! What are you doing?" Rachel asked in alarm, trying to break free of her friend's vice grip.

"We're leaving," Sam said firmly. Wyatt jumped out of the booth and to his feet, looking round at the three, especially Leah who was now attempting to drag Rachel, who wasn't budging, away.

"Why would you leave? What's wrong, what happened?" Rachel asked in confusion and frustration. Leah bared her teeth at Wyatt as he approached the two girls. She officially loathed him, especially now that he came on to her in front of his fricking girlfriend, who just so happened to be Leah's best fricking friend!

"Come on, don't leave," he pleaded softly, his eyes sliding right over Rachel's head and meeting Leah's eyes. That was it for Leah. She snapped.

Striding forward, she raised her arm and smacked him, hard, across the face.

Nobody moved for a while, the restaurant had gone totally silent. And then Leah spoke, anger in every syllable, "That's for flirting with me, motherfucker!" This emitted several gasps as parents rushed to claps hands over their children's ears. A waitress began to hurry over, but Rachel seized Leah's elbow and pulled her away before she could get there, leaving Wyatt boiling in fury as Sam followed them hurriedly.

Rachel looked extremely upset as they began to walk away from the restaurant, apparently fighting off tears.

"Was he really coming on to you?" she whispered in a hurt voice, and Leah nodded sadly.

"I'm so sorry, Rach," she whispered, hugging her best friend tightly as Sam hung back a few paces.

"It's…its okay." Rachel replied in a slightly watery, hurt voice. Leah called her mother and she was there in a jiffy, making soft clucking noises as Rachel sniffled in the backseat at Wyatt's betrayal.

"Rach baby, do you want to stay overnight with Leah?" Sue asked quietly, and Leah offered a smile of gratitude to her mother.

"Y-yes, please. Can I call my dad?"

"I've already done it, Hon. He said it was absolutely fine if you stayed with Leels," Sue answered matter-of-factly.

"Thanks, Mrs. Clearwater." Rachel was still looking pretty down when Sue dropped Sam off at his house, and when she parked, Leah pulled her into her arms and Rachel began to cry.

Leah, her arms still wound tight around Rachel, led them to the house and then up to her room where she continued to cry and Leah continued to hug until the tears stopped and they both sunk into a deep slumber, completely free of boys and dating and betrayal and fury…

He was raking the lawn, and while he was raking he thought, and while he thought he got angry. He was always mad at everyone, so furious, livid all the time, at everything and everyone; especially _her_.

She did it; she was the one who ruined everything: His job, his friends, and his whole fucking _life_. He wanted to leave her so bad…and he almost did so many times…but there was always that one little thing keeping him right where he was…

His son.

His boy, his Sam, was why he stayed at Anna's old, broken-down house and put up with her nagging and screaming and yelling at him to get a job. He sometimes thought about giving up, and then he thought of Sam, and he reminded himself that it was worth it. It was always worth it.

Joshua Uley's hands were aching, so he dropped his rake and he headed to his old, beaten up car from 1989. He loved it with all his soul and wouldn't trade it for the world. He didn't know where he was going when he began to drive, but he didn't stop until he thought he needed to stop.

When he looked up, he saw that he was in front of a thrift store. Cranking the window, he spit onto the street and then climbed out. Ateara's was owned by the man himself, a carefree, wise old man who Joshua had much respect for.

The place had a musty smell to it when Joshua walked in, but he didn't pay much mind to this…it always had that odor. Instead he made his way over to the infinitesimal section of handmade wooden toys. His eyes scanned them all imperiously as he attempted to find the best one possible for his boy.

And then he spotted it: an old toy airplane. It was delicately crafted with superior details that Joshua was astounded with. The shiniest red he could imagine was painted on it and immediately he took it to the counter, fishing in his pockets for the right amount of money to get it.

Finally, and with triumph, he dropped it to the register and carried his present out the door proudly. When Joshua got home, he called for Sam, and then bent down to his only child's level.

"Sam, I want you to have this," Joshua said quietly, taking Sam's fingers and rapping them gently around the toy. His eyes went wide with wonder. "I want you to take this, and whenever you look at it, think of me, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," Sam breathed in amazement, holding it out to inspect it closer. Joshua smiled at his son's obvious delight and then patted him on the head.

"Yep, Sammy, you're gonna be just like me one day…especially with the ladies, eh?" Joshua winked winningly and Sam looked up, confused. Without waiting for an answer, Joshua chuckled and hugged Sam with all his might, because he realized that this was probably the last time he'd ever see him.

"Anna," he thundered, standing up and stretching, "Anna, I'm going to buy beer and a few more smokes!" His shout was met with a snarl, which he ignored with curled fists and stomps to the door. He swung it open and it banged against the wall, hard enough to have left a dent.

Now, Sam never looked at that dent, because it made him remember his bastard of a father. The day that Joshua Uley made that dent in that wall was the day he left his son behind, the day he betrayed his wife.

But, Sam still kept that airplane. It was the only thing that his mother had not thrown out, so sometimes, at night, he took it out and looked at it, trying to revive some old memory of Joshua being a father, instead of a drunken idiot.

He remembered the words he had spoken so exactly that sometimes he whispered them to himself, "_I'll be just like you._" Those words always sent chills down his spine because the very least thing he wanted was to be like his dad. In fact, it was a recurring nightmare.

It wasn't until he started dating Leah that he really began to loathe his father. He didn't understand how any man could cheat on the woman that he loved…it was unforgiveable. So the day that he returned home from his double-date with Leah and Rachel and Wyatt, he took at little toy airplane, made so impeccably, and he threw it as hard as he could at his wall, leaving a dent on it from the force.

He wasn't going to be a Joshua, and he wasn't going to be a Wyatt…he was going to be a Sam, and that would have to do.

The dent on the wall was now a reminder, a reminder of what he was never going to be.


	7. Seth's got a Dead Fish Named George

I admit to this chapter being a little bit of a filler - there are a few scenes that are important, though, so watch out for them! I decided to add those fun scenes especially because the next chapter is gonna be considerably darker.

Thanks to those that review, and also the fabulous laurazuleta18, who I could not live without. I swear it, Hon, I don't know what I would do!

* * *

Chapter Seven – Seth's got a Dead Fish Named George

"To the beginning of a beautiful summer!" Kat screeched, raising her glass of orange soda joyously. Leah, Rachel, Rebecca, Sam, Sam's friends Victor and Nate, plus the student who had arrived just two weeks before school had ended: Isaia Matefeo, were hanging out to toast the beginning of their three months of freedom, of no homework and no teachers and no detention…

Leah grinned and gave Sam a kiss straight on the lips. Kat sat down, grinning, as everyone else chugged half of their soda. "So, Isaia," Rebecca smiled flirtatiously. "Where did you move from?"

"Well, I'm actually from Samoa, though I lived in Oregon a little before that," he admitted. Becca's smile widened as she placed her elbow on the table and leaned in very close to him. His eyes widened a diminutive amount before returning his composure to normal.

Leah rolled her eyes and turned away from their conversation, instead choosing to tune into Sam and Nate's. "…was pretty smoking. I don't know what you think, but she has an _ass_, man!" Leah then wrinkled her nose and turned away from those two, preferring not to hear Nate's detailed rant about Sara Beveller's butt.

"All guys are disgusting," Leah decided as she finally turned to Rachel and Kat. Kat snorted but nodded in agreement.

"Took you that freaking long to notice, Hon?" she smirked, flipping her hair behind her back with perfectly manicured nails. Rachel was watching this almost enviously and raised her hand to her hair, almost defensively, and then thought better of it.

Kat shot a winning smile at Victor, who was across the table, and he smiled back nervously. "Hmm, you really seem to agree with me," Leah said with sarcasm dripping from every word she spoke.

"Well, _I'm_ not the one who's been in an exclusive relationship for almost a whole year now," Kat retorted, which did indeed shut Leah up.

She glanced down at her banana cream pie and her stomach did a flip…it was unbelievable that she had been a girlfriend to Sam for almost an entire year. Almost ninety percent of high school relationships didn't last for more than a month, and she had always assumed that she would be part of that percentage instead of having a long one.

She was hoping that maybe, just maybe, they would last for two years, although she didn't really have an idea of what would happen in the future. Leah wished she had a crystal ball or something, because it was fucking killing her to not be able to know what was going to happen with her and Sam. Would they get married?

She fantasized about that briefly: walking down the aisle with her father, him taking her hand and placing it in Sam's, Emily as her Maid of Honor standing right beside her as she made the biggest vow of her life…

Well, at least she knew one thing: Emily would be standing next to her no matter who the groom was to be. She was comforted in this fact and relaxed more than she was, laying her head on Sam's shoulder and closing her eyes.

She would be visiting her best friend this weekend, and all would be good.

"Leels!" Emily said excitedly as she threw her arms around her best friend. Leah hugged her back with all her might and then placed a chaste kiss on her cheek.

"Oh, it's so good to see you!" Leah said proudly, one of her arms winding its way through Emily's.

"Well, thank you, it's wonderful to see you too!" Emily giggled, taking one of Leah's bags and carrying it up the stairs for her as Leah lugged the other. Once they reached Emily's room she whipped around and crash landed on her bed, legs splayed out wildly and tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth. Leah pressed a hand to her mouth and then looked away, snickering as she did so.

"You're such a dork, Em," Leah giggled. Emily snorted and sat up, stretching. Leah noticed with a twinge of envy how beautiful Emily was. Her long, black hair showed off every inch of the Native American in her and she was showing it proudly.

Her big brown eyes were wide open and beckoning, sort of flirtatious. Her limbs were smooth and long, and her boobs weren't bad either. Leah felt very self-conscious around her cousin a lot, but she didn't let it show. This was why she cleared her throat and flopped next to Emily, making the girl bounce a couple times.

"Headache inducing!" she chuckled dizzily.

"Hey…um, Emily? Do you know that you're the best cousin in the whole world? I can rely on you, and I trust you, and I love you _so_ much," Leah said seriously. Emily stared at her for a long while before letting out a gasp of irritation and exasperation.

"If you want cookies, Lee, all you have to do is ask," she grumbled, standing and stretching again. Leah grinned happily and trotted along behind her cousin as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Thank you so much, Em! You are now _officially_ the best cousin in the whole world, did you know?" she beamed and Emily rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, okay; remember not to touch me when I'm baking. That's when I get my groove on," she reminded Leah strictly, which did not work on the girl.

"That's when you get your _groove _on, Emily? Really? You say that and still expect me to take you seriously?" Leah snorted shaking her head. Emily giggled and tied an apron around her waist.

"I'm a hippie at heart, Hon."

"Right; and I am a circus performer at heart," Leah smirked. Emily shot Leah an evil look and then shot an orange at her. Leah ducked just in time with a squeak before popping back up with her hands on her hips.

"What the hell was that for?" Leah shrieked wildly as Emily collapsed into laughter.

"You s-said that you were a circus performer so I was seeing if you could juggle!" Emily managed to spit out a reply before busting into giggles once more.

"I can so juggle, just not when you freaking throw them at me!" Leah hissed before scooping the orange off of the floor and taking two more out of a bowl on the table. Concentrating so hard her tongue stuck of her mouth gently she threw all three into the air.

They all landed on the floor with a _thump _and Emily fell on the floor, laughing so hard she was clutching her stomach. Leah was glaring at her, her cheeks covered in a pinkish tinge.

"Oh shut up and make my cookies, woman!" she demanded jokingly. Emily, finally able to control her giggles, stood and brushed herself off delicately.

"Excuse me, Ms. Clearwater. I am not your slave, thank you very much!" Emily stated defiantly, though there was still a hint of a smile in her expression. Leah snorted.

"Sweetie, of _course _you aren't my slave…but you are my maid. Now feed me!" Leah commanded. Emily raised her eyebrows and then shrugged.

"Yes, mistress," she said in a British accent while curtseying. Leah grinned and propped her feet up on the Young's table.

"Get to it, maid! I'm hungry!" Leah announced imperiously, talking in a fake British accent.

"Ooh, someone's feeling a little deferential!" Emily joked. Leah chuckled but shook her head.

"Sweetie, deferential means respect. The game we're playing doesn't involve me giving you respect," Leah explained smiling. Emily huffed and turned to shoot her cousin a look.

"Deferential does not mean respect! Hello, ever looked in a dictionary?" Emily cocked an eyebrow and began to mix the ingredients she had gathered.

"Em, I think _you're_ the one who hasn't looked in a dictionary," Leah sighed, shaking her head. Emily made an offended noise and then jerked her head towards the family room.

"There's a dictionary on the top shelf...go look it up!" Emily demanded, chin up. Leah rolled her eyes and jumped up to get it, returning to the kitchen while flipping the pages diligently.

Suddenly, a triumphant expression floated across her face as she found the right word. "Aha! See here, Emily! Deferential: showing or expressing polite respect or courtesy." Leah stuck her tongue out childishly as Emily frowned.

"Hmph. Alright, I'll give you that." So, Leah was right and Emily was wrong.

Oh, the irony…

"Hey, Seth, what do you have in your hands?" Leah asked as her little brother attempted to slip past her without notice. When would he learn that Leah was a super-ninja?

"Oh! Um, nothing…umm. Nothing," Seth gulped nervously, quickly stuffing whatever he was holding beside his back.

"Seth Tiberius Clearwater!" Leah said threateningly while wagging her finger at him. Seth huffed at her, hands still behind his back.

"My middle name is Harrison, Leah! Not Ti-beard-us!" Leah sniggered as Seth failed to pronounce the name the right way.

"Well duh, I know that. I just wanted to hear you try to pronounce the name Tiberius," she said, making Seth stick his tongue out at her.

"Anyway, show me your hands or I'm calling for Mom," Leah demanded, smirking evilly as he paled.

"You wouldn't!"

"Oh, Seth, I would. And you know it," Leah whispered dangerously. Seth took a deep breath and then showed his older sister what was in his hand: a bag of water with a goldfish in it. Leah gaped at it for a moment before busting into giggles.

"Oh my god, Seth! You got a fish! How the hell-?" Leah couldn't continue because she was so overcome by laughter. Their parents had never let them have a pet before, and they were sticking to that resolution until…well, they weren't ever going to let that up.

Personally, Leah was a little astounded that her brother had pulled something like this and cocked her head to the side as he answered grudgingly. "Well…a kid won him but didn't want him so he gave him to me and I named him George," Seth said in a rush. Leah stared at him for a moment before laughing, shaking her head, and dismissing him as she turned back to the television set.

Seth ran upstairs with his new pet and stared at it for a while, wondering idly what to do with it. He needed a bowl first of all…and then remembered that his parents were in the kitchen. Sighing loudly, he scooped the bag up and made his way to the bathroom, where he dumped George the only place he could think of: the toilet.

Poor George…he never saw old Harry Clearwater coming. And Harry would never understand why, when he came out of the bathroom, his son was quivering with horror and making whimpering noises and Leah was laughing her butt off almost maniacally.

And nobody except the two, ever, found out why from that day on Seth kept a picture of a skull and crossbones posted on the wall in the bathroom with the name 'George' pasted on top of it.

Leah brushed her hair gently and smiled at her reflection, the summer breeze blowing it around gently. She smoothed her hands over her short, black dress and stood slowly, twirling around and around. She wasn't wearing any shoes just then, so her toes were acting as her balance.

Laughing still, she slipped on a pair of high heels and made her way down the stairs excitedly. She was sort of sad that everything was going by so fast, now that it was August. She and Sam were about to go into their eleventh year of school, to be juniors, which also meant that they had arrived at their second anniversary.

Sam had been waiting downstairs for fifteen minutes and she was hurrying as fast as she could. Once Leah arrived she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him hard, keeping her lips at bay only because her parents were standing right behind them.

"Now, remember to follow all of our usual rules," Harry said sternly, and Leah smiled slightly, standing on her toes to kiss him on the cheek.

"Of course, Dad, you know I always listen," she said in a sickly sweet voice that both parents and Sam snorted at.

"You're so cheesy," Sue chuckled, bringing her daughter into her arms lightly before letting go and waving them out the door; once the two were alone both grinned and interlaced hands, swinging them gently as they made their way to Sam's car.

They were going to a fancy restaurant in Port Angeles, and Leah was very excited about it, since they rarely got to do something of that sort. La Push wasn't exactly known for fine dining…

He grinned as he began to drive and Leah had an urge to lean into his shoulder. She and he were so comfortable now, they could say or do anything (well, almost anything) and not be concerned about it being kept a secret. Trust wasn't an issue for them.

"I like you, Sam. I like you a lot." _Maybe I even love you… _Leah wasn't about to admit this, though, or at least not at the moment.

"I like you a lot too, Leels," he grinned back happily. He leaned in to give her a peck on the cheek and she beamed, leaning in as well to show her neck.

Later, Sam would just wish that he had waited until they'd arrive in the parking lot, because then he would have seen the patch of ice.


	8. Sam got Some Pain and Leah, Too

Here is chapter eight, my beautiful readers. Thanks to one especially special reviewer/reader/beta/awesometastic friend: laurazuleta18. She makes this story about a thousand times better. :) Love you hun!

* * *

**Chapter Eight – Sam's got Some Pain…and Leah, Too**

It's funny, really, the way you look at life. Some people think of it as a step, a place you briefly visit on the journey to a far better place. Others view it as the only life they will ever get to live, so they make the most of it, an adventure.

Everyone, though, or at least everyone Bethany Rhodes knew, didn't cherish each precious second they had. And they should have, _she_ should have. She realized this just before Sam Uley's pick-up collided with her suburban and she was thrown through the windshield.

She wished that she had taken the time to put her seatbelt on. She wished that she hadn't forgotten about her son Henry's basketball practice. She was sad, knowing that he'd never get picked up by her again.

Because as soon as her body slammed into the cold, icy ground, her neck snapped and her spine broke...there wasn't any hope left.

Poor Bethany never saw Sam's pick-up truck coming…she wished that he'd saved the kissing for later, too. Not even for her, really. More for Henry or her husband or her daughter. She didn't mind dying, once she'd actually passed.

Actually, just before her heart burst, she realized it was rather relieving.

She wasn't in the cold anymore…she was home.

* * *

Sue Clearwater loved her children more than anyone else in the world. She loved that they made mistakes, she loved the way their eyes lit up -in perfect imitation of their father- when they accomplished something, and most of all she loved that they loved her back.

Leah and Seth would always be her babies, no matter how old they would grow. She would look into their faces and see them laughing and playing together with nothing but joy in their hearts…well, some of the time, anyway. She'd guard and protected them like a mama bear would, who cared against whom? It crushed her whenever one of them got hurt.

So when she received a call from the hospital, telling her that Leah had been in a near fatal car accident with her boyfriend, Sue's heart almost fell right down to her knees in panic. Without even grabbing coats, she and her husband rushed out the door, dropped Seth off at the neighbor's and went to the emergency room.

Leah was in critical condition. Covered in cuts and sporting so many bruises Sue didn't know where to stroke her daughter's skin; it was like looking at a completely different person. Her heartbeat was incredibly low and she could only breathe with aide. Her left leg was broken severely as was her crushed right arm.

Her beautiful, raven locks had been yanked out in some places so there were bald patches all over her head. The force of the crash had given her whiplash, so it would be hard for her to move around for a long time.

Sue was just as broken as Leah when the doctor finished explaining all of this to her. Harry was distant and unemotional during the whole meeting, but when they got home that night, he cried for three hours before falling asleep. His baby girl had almost died.

If Leah only knew the condition Sam was in, she would have told her parents to stop worrying about her and focus on him, because he was in a coma.

His head had been injured very badly, along with many bruises and cuts and some internal bleeding that had, thankfully, been controlled.

Anna Bright, Sam's mother, was distraught. She would hardly leave his side and when she did all she would do was worry and strain herself before finally returning to her son. The only thing she was still living for was her Sammy, she didn't know what she'd do if she lost him…

It wasn't until the next Wednesday, five days, when Leah woke up. She was exhausted and confused and in pain and turmoil, so it wasn't any surprise that she would refuse to eat or talk or do anything for a long while.

It wasn't until the nurses wheeled her bed in next to Sam's did she calm down, enough to fall asleep while simultaneously crying her heart out. When she woke two days later, she finally felt all of the pain that had been hanging over her like a piano lift crush her already struggling body.

She began to hate herself: why did she have to kiss Sam, who she now knew, without a question, she was completely in love with? She could have waited until they'd gotten to the restaurant, could have waited years if someone told her the consequences for her impatience.

She passed the time by bitterly clicking through the channels on her miniscule television and flipping through old, magazines about one-time stars and what they had been doing after several years of being nobody of importance.

After a couple of weeks, Leah was released from the hospital and by that time, Anna had been forced to discuss pulling the plug with the doctor. Leah was miserable: she still felt it was her fault.

It she hadn't fucking kissed him, that woman wouldn't have died and he wouldn't be on the very verge of death. She hated herself for doing this to her family and friends and everyone else who was involved.

She couldn't get the simple fact out of her mind that _it was her fault_. She sunk into a deep depression and further delayed her return to school, instead opting to watch the Spanish Channel, cry and bake cookies all day.

And then, exactly one month and two weeks after the accident occurred, Leah got a call from Anna.

Sam had come out of his coma.

As soon as her mother got home from their bait shop, Leah pounced on her and begged with all of her might to be taken to the hospital, and Sue complied. Her daughter was broken, and Sue knew that having Sam back would start to glue the pieces back together.

On the way there, Leah was practically bouncing with anticipation. Sue dropped her off in the front and then went to park, smiling in relief as Leah tore into the hospital.

She signed in quickly and then stumbled her way to his room to find Anna sitting, crying happy tears as he weakly stared up at her. "Oh, Sam," Leah whispered, before she drew a chair up to the other side of his bed. He blinked at her slowly, and then smiled.

"Hey Leels," he whispered, voice cracking with the effort. All of his muscles were unused and weak. She blinked twice, and then burst into sobs. Sam was noticeably alarmed, and for a moment Anna fluttered her hands nervously and began to worry, but then Sam shook his head a tiny bit and she calmed down. Leah gently took Sam's left hand and pressed her lips to it, still crying.

"I'm s-so sorry!" she cried, "It's my entire fucking fault!" She didn't even care that she'd sworn in front of Sam's mom. Sam himself, however, was looking a little angry.

"Not – your – fault," he breathed insistently. Leah shook her head and bit her lip in anguish.

"You've been in a coma for a month and a half, Sam. If I hadn't tried to kiss you…" she trailed, more tears glittering in her brown eyes.

"Not your fault," he insisted again roughly. Leah choked back another sob and hugged her sides tightly.

"I love you so much…and I c-can't bear to know I caused you this much pain," she whispered. "You've been in a coma for a month and a half, Sam. If I hadn't tried to kiss you…" she trailed off, more tears glittering in her brown eyes.

"I'll just go out for some coffee," Anna whispered quietly, knowing this was a talk made for Leah and Sam alone…her boy wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, after all.

"I _wanted_ you to kiss me…we've kissed millions of times in the car, Leels!" Sam tried to yell, but his voice was barely a hoarse whisper. He could barely lift his head to look at her, and she ducked her head in shame of what she felt she had done to her high school sweetheart.

"Yes, but-!"

"I refuse to let you blame yourself for this, Lee-lee," he whispered. Leah continued to sob brokenly into her palms. "I love you."

"I love you too, Sam," Leah choked. There was silence for quite a while as they looked into each other's eyes, reveling in the fact that both of them had made it. They had survived this accident together.

"We're strong," Leah finally murmured, trailing delicate fingers down his arm. His eyelids were slipping closed, but he let his head bob yes quickly.

A tiny smile fell across Leah's lips as she noticed his exhaustion. She placed her hand on top of his and, uncomfortable though it was, positioned her body half on top of the bed and half on top of thin air. She snuggled as best she could without hurting him into his side and then, as the sun set and the moon rose, they fell asleep.

Together.

Before the young couple knew it, they were back at school. Leah and Sam kept up a pace of normality as best they could, though it was rather hard to set themselves at the same pace as everyone else after being away from school for almost three months.

Both were still recovering from the accident, and Sam had been indefinitely excused for gym class, which Leah felt very jealous about.

The only people that Leah could turn to were her usual crowd: Rebecca, Rachel, and Kat. Kat had treated her as if nothing was different, smirking and asking when the hell she and Sam were going to break up so she could sleep with him and then flipping Leah off when she replied, with a smile, that Sam was hers forever.

Rachel and Becca however, were a completely different story. The both of them completely freaked out and began to sob in Leah's consoling arms, stating how they thought she was, 'like, _dead_!'

"I'm alright," Leah reminded them with a worn smile. Becca stepped forward and grabbed Leah's shoulders, gentler than she would have regularly, and shook her a little.

"No you're not, you bitch!"

"Shut up, Rebecca!" Rachel hissed, shouldering her twin out of the way and hugging Leah again.

"We missed you babe." Kat offered a tiny smile and met Leah's eyes over the top of her sunglasses - though Leah had no idea why Kat was wearing them in freaking _La Push, _of all places.

"Oh, I know you did. I'm just that amazing," Leah drawled back. She rolled her shoulders and then made her way past the gaggle of girls to her locker. Several people were staring at Sam and her, which did bother her slightly, but she ignored them. Her fingers hovered slightly over the lock, and then she glanced down briefly at her hand where she'd penned her combination…just in case. It'd been a while since using her locker and she had completely blanked out the three numbers.

"And how are _you, _Sam?" Kat's voice lowered as it always did when talking to anybody other than her family and close friends. Male or female, beautiful or not beautiful, Kat would hit on anybody and everybody. Even if that particular person was one of her best friend's boyfriend…a sliver of jealousy shuddered through Leah, but she pushed it down.

She and Kat were good friends, and Leah knew she wouldn't do anything to hurt her purposefully. Plus she trusted Sam. He had always been kind, thoughtful, and more than understanding. They _loved _each other, after all.

"I, uh, I'm fine," Sam muttered back, an uncomfortable edge to his voice. He turned to his girlfriend abruptly and slid his hands around her waist.

"Lee-lee," he whispered, trailing a kiss across her neck, "do'ya wanna come to my house after school? My mom will be home, but she has to work so she won't be downstairs." She quirked a grin and nodded happily.

"That sounds great. I need a little R and R right now," Leah smiled.

"But you've been out of school _forever_," Rachel frowned. Leah sighed and shook her head. It would be difficult to explain how exhausting the past couple weeks had been for her and Sam. Their time was spent mostly of making up homework, physical therapy, and more homework.

"Yeah, that sounds great," she finally repeated, snuggling deep into Sam's muscular embrace.

* * *

Thousands and thousands of miles away, a vampire was waiting.

He could hear his lover's clumsy footfalls and hummed at the sound of them. She was always early to their meetings, something that greatly amused the old creature. He believed that she thought her timeliness as a competition, and for that he adored her even more. Her scent wavered through his nostrils and he purred, tantalized.

He didn't think Andreita knew quite what she did to him…although he knew _exactly _what he did to her. It was rather funny, he thought, that a vampire could fall so very deeply for a human - to not eat her for so long. He would eventually, of course, but for now all he wanted to do was sit back and watch her fluster. They, meaning humans, were almost always pathetic, impish things…but not this one. Fernando's girl was special. He didn't quite know how, but when he became a vampire, he was granted with an uncanny ability to sense the beings worth saving. Never had this been demonstrated with him as it had the day he and his soon-to-be-lover met.

He'd been hunting for a good scent, blood that would satisfy his unquenchable thirst and taste wonderful, too. But when Andreita walked up and pleaded for food in Spanish, saying she needed to fill her _mami _and _papi's _stomachs, for they were both desperately sick, something inside of him broke in half. Smiling, he had handed her a stack of pesos and made his merry way, whistling with happiness because he had just prevented himself from eating someone important. He was expecting her hand on his shoulder, saying no…no, this was much too much. Andreita couldn't accept such a gift.

The young woman did not disappoint.

He had laughed again, and insisted on walking the flustered girl to the market. Together they'd picked out all their favorite foods, and Fernando tried his best not to gag on the samples Andreita pleaded he take, and then taste in front of her. The rest of the food, on his insistence, was shoved into her arms.

She was not aware that she was being followed home, but she was. He 'accidentally' ran into her the next day, and after that they took part in a series of fake meetings and secret get-togethers, tumbling headfirst into a whirlwind romance.

Fernando was glad the girl was so very ignorant, and not at all wise enough to be suspicious of his red eyes, or the way he would smell her and go so still, not breathing for fear of puncturing her neck and sucking his entertainment dry.

He was getting better day by day, and when she stepped into his path he pressed down the need to pounce on her easily. It had taken centuries of practice, and because of this one he had managed to tame his urges almost completely. Her steps were quick and precise as she approached him, full of lust.

"Hola, Fernando," she whispered. Her thick, dark lips formed a perfect 'o' when she was not speaking and the vampire could feel his patience to bed her wearing thin. Fernando would have claimed she was a Greek goddess if he hadn't have met female vampires. Admittedly, any vampire could outshine her by a thousand watts. Still, Andreita had a beauty in her own way and he appreciated that. Her skin was relatively smooth and her breasts were large, traits Fernando had always appreciated.

"Beautiful woman, we meet again," he whispered in Spanish. Andreita blushed and looked down, trying her very hardest to not get so overwhelmed by this near stranger. She loved him passionately, but there was something very…dangerous about him. All of her senses screamed to continue to be weary, but her heart was thrumming violently and begging her to hold his hand so very tightly and pull him to her and just move her body against his with all of her energy and love, simply letting all of her worries loose.

He stepped forward because he could sense her want and need for his touch. This thrilled him…he wasn't easily amused and this had proved to be very effective. He considered, briefly, making a practice of entrancing women, only to drink them dry once he would be finished with them.

But, as they made love…a curious thing happened to Fernando. The sense of her importance actually _increased. _This shocked him very much, but he continued to bed her with as much gentleness as he could muster, for once not focused on the sex so much on the pull he was feeling.

Shrugging, he continued to please her and decided maybe he wouldn't kill this one.

* * *

Emmett Cullen was getting restless in Ohio, and when he got restless, so did his mate Rosalie. It was never a good thing when the two were restless, so it was in that moment that Edward Cullen reminded his adopted father that it was about time they considered moving again. The locals had begun to get suspicious, not that they weren't suspicious in the first place, so they would have had to leave soon anyway. Everyone agreed that it was a sensible idea, and when Alice looked into the future she didn't see anything bad possibly occurring.

She didn't know it would ruin quite a few La Push native's lives.

She didn't know what dominoes the Cullen family would cause to fall.

And since they didn't know, the decision was made: they were to move to Forks, Washington.


	9. Leah has goten Into an Awkard Situation

I honestly would not be here without the help of my beta and friend, laurazuleta18. Thanks bb, so much.

Sorry for the lateness, having three stories going at once wasn't a smart idea on my part. ^v^

Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Nine – Leah has gotten Herself into a Very Awkward Situation

Sunrises were Harry Clearwater's favorite part of the day, and sunrises on Christmas morning were even better. His kids were still sleeping…though damn it if he could call Leah a kid any more. That day's particular sunrise was new, unique, beautiful, and independent just like his daughter. Maybe that was why he loved them so much, because they reminded him of his girl. She was definitely growing up, and growing up well.

Leah was responsible, her grades were good, and she was happy. That was one of the most important things to Harry: his children being happy. Though _He _wasn't happy about what was making _his_ little girl happy -her boyfriend-, but he allowed it anyway. There was something about Sam that he just couldn't trust. He was respectful and had a perfect record…but Harry kept thinking of Joshua Uley, and again and again he would have to remind himself that father and son could be very different. Sam _had_ always treated his Leah well.

But Harry chose not to dwell on that. Instead, he watched the sunrise and looked forward to the rest of Christmas day.

* * *

Leah was woken by the furious fists of her brother at an agonizing eight thirty in the morning, but today she wouldn't mind as much, not as much as she usually did anyway. And that was because it was Christmas. For as long as she could remember, Christmas was the most celebrated, very best holiday in her house. Yesterday, she and her mother had spent the whole day baking cookies while taking breaks to help decorate the house with Harry and Seth. The tree had always been one of the best parts, because the children knew what would be under it the next morning.

"Presents!" Seth cried happily, smacking Leah against her back again. She moaned and rolled over with annoyance.

"Hit me again, little bro, and I'll sleep until noon," she warned, her voice muffled through her quilted blankets. Seth let out a whining keen and immediately stopped his blows.

"_Fine,_" he sighed. "But _please _wake up! Please, please, I want to open my stu-u-_uff_!" Leah growled in irritation and reached up to thwack him on the back of the head. He huffed and stomped away. When she heard her door slam shut, she giggled and pulled the covers down. She blinked a couple times then sat up and stretched excitedly. She didn't show it to Seth or her parents in fear of it being considered childish, but truthfully she was as eager about presents as she'd been years ago.

She climbed out of bed and pulled on a pair of flannel shorts, as she had just gone to bed in a purple tee and her favorite blue Teddy-bear underwear. Stopping quickly to muss her hair around in the mirror, she made sure it wasn't a _terrible _rat's nest. Leah was well aware her dad would bust out the video camera, something she wasn't too fond of. If she had to be remembered, she'd rather it be in someone's memories or at least a picture…anything other than a fucking video. She shuddered at what was awaiting her downstairs.

Finally, she opened her door and stepped carefully into the hall, only to be faced with a fist just about to slam into her face. "Oomph, Mom!" Leah complained heavily, swinging back just in time. Sue laughed, then slung an arm around her daughter's shoulders and led her cheerfully downstairs.

"Come on, beautiful girl! Before your brother has a panic attack!" Sue announced happily. She was dressed embarrassedly in a fuzzy pink robe and slippers, and Leah could only pray her dad had thrown on more than his regular boxers for the grand video. She let herself be thrown hurriedly into a chair, where she knew her stack of presents waited. Seth was bouncing in his seat, eyes shining as he eyed the eight presents marked from Santa, and the four from Mom and Dad. Of course, Leah was well aware that Santa _was _her parents, but she wouldn't ruin that surprise when her little brother was still so innocent. Seth may be one of the most annoying people _ever,_ but he was also one of the four people Leah cared about most.

"Leah!" he called happily. His eyes searched Sue's, and she nodded with a chuckle.

"You can start opening them up," she said gently. Leah sat, entertained, and watched as Seth ripped open toy after toy, a few games, and a Batman cape. Finally, Leah turned to her own pile and unwrapped countless CD's and DVD's as well as a new quilt. Sue and Harry opened their presents from each other and the joint present from Seth and Leah happily. Of course, Leah knew her parents would be happy if they got a blank piece of paper from Seth or her.

"Lovely," Sue sighed, pressing a kiss to her son's temple then wrapping one arm around Leah in a tight hug.

"Thanks, mom," Leah replied back with a grin. Harry chuckled and joined in on the hug immediately, feeling happy that his family was getting along all at once, something that didn't occur often. Leah's chest filled with a kind of unidentifiable warmth and she leaned contentedly into her family's warm embrace.

"Now, go get dressed. We're due at the Uley house in a couple of hours and I don't want to disappoint!" Sue suddenly chirped, breaking apart from everyone else. Smiling in satisfaction, Leah grabbed her new things and made her way to her room. Since Harry was an only child and it was much too snowy to head to even the Makah reservation where Sue's family was, Sue and Anna Bright-Uley had talked it out and decided that it would be perfect to spend the holiday together, seeing as they were destined to be family-in-law one day anyway, which was an understatement to say that Leah and Sam were extremely embarrassed upon hearing this.

They also invited the Blacks to come, because Billy was old and couldn't go very far, and his whole family had driven to Seattle the week before. Leah didn't think that was nice at all, and the twins didn't seem to either. In fact, Rachel and Rebecca seemed to be so livid with their relatives for abandoning their father, they had returned all presents without even opening them. Anyway, the Blacks had accepted the offer, so the three families were piling together to celebrate Christmas.

Leah did a handstand in her room on the way to her dresser and ended up tumbling to the floor, banging her foot against the drawer painfully. "Ow," she muttered before hopping her way to where her nice clothes sat.

* * *

"Thanks, Bella, honey! I could have _sworn _I left them on the kitchen counter. You are a godsend, Sweetheart, I swear!" Renee Higginbotham breathed into her cell phone, stirring her latte and knowing that she was the luckiest woman in the world to have a daughter such as her Bells. She had misplaced her set of keys, _again_, and Bella had found them in the fridge, of all places! She didn't understand exactly how they had gotten in the fridge, but they had.

Idly, Renee twirled her finger in the Whipped Cream and began to suck her finger. She sometimes got so worried about her Bell being shut up in the house, reading and doing homework all day. She was a lonely girl, something that Renee didn't find quite healthy. Many times, though, Bella had reassured her that she had no interest in many of the other things her mother suggested.

"You look awfully focused," a voice chuckled from a table over. Renee jumped about five feet into the air then pressed a hand over her heart. She looked around, and eventually met the eyes of a younger man, smiling deeply. He was tanned with an almost shaved head, something she admittedly found extremely sexy.

"Oh! You scared me!" Renee laughed, turning her chair to face him. His face split into a grin and he stretched his hand out.

"Sorry 'bout that. A beautiful woman like you doesn't deserved to be scared," he smirked. Renee giggled and blushed.

"Well…thank you." She paused as her mind ran crazily, "What's your name?" Their eyes met, and she could see the kindness radiating from them.

"Phil," he introduced, spreading his arms wide, "Phil Dwyer. And who are you?" She quirked her lip teasingly and tipped her chin upwards, showing off what she hoped was a confident, lovely figure.

"I'm Renee…Renee Higginbotham."

* * *

"I got you something," Leah said proudly as the twins scattered to find their father. The two were finally alone, and it looked like it would stay that way for several moments. Seth was following around Jacob, Rachel and Rebecca's little brother, around outside in the snow and their parents were talking in the living room, far from the romanticizing couple. Sam smiled at her and managed to snag a quick kiss before pulling something out of his pocket.

"Me, too," he confessed. Slowly, Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out a little black box. For a moment, very briefly, Leah imagined him sliding to one knee and brandishing an engagement ring, and then immediately snapped out of it with a blush. That was a long way off, she reminded herself.

In the real world, he placed it into her warm hands and met her eyes worriedly. "I tried to pick out the one that I thought you'd like the most, and I know you love your birthstone, so I thought, maybe it would, you know, be to your liking," he rambled nervously. Leah smiled and pressed a finger to his lips, effectively cutting off any other words that would escape his mouth.

She popped it open and gasped when she saw the pair of garnet earrings, blood red and shining with beauty; she gasped and threw an arm around Sam's neck while still eyeing them with pleasure. "Oh _my, _they're gorgeous!" she beamed. She took out the golden hoop earrings she already had in and handed them to Sam while she fastened the ones he had given her.

Leah hopped to her feet and pushed her hair back, modeling her ears proudly. "They look great on you!" Sam laughed then sprang up and snagged her round the waist, pulling Leah into his chest snugly and kissing her deeply.

"Love you, babe," he grinned. Leah patted his cheek and pulled away.

"Oh, I know you love me…I _suppose_ I love you too," she said, feigning a bored tone and observing her fingernails with disinterest. Sam rolled his eyes and kissed her again, to which she pulled away and smacked his chest lightly. "Stop," she ordered, giggling. She then bent down and retrieved something from the inside of her sock.

"I, um, asked my dad to carve this especially for you. I know that you love bears, so…" Leah shrugged with her eyes downcast as she slipped the wooden statuette into her boyfriend's hand. Sam was silent as he observed it, and then all of a sudden he was crushing Leah to his chest. She gasped at the pressure of his strong hold before melting into his arms and closing her eyes in contentment.

After they opened each other's gifts, they had dinner and spent the rest of Christmas day talking with each other. They made plans to meet at Sam's house again on New Year's Eve, excited because Anna was going on a date (well, excited that she wasn't going to be in the house – Sam was hating the fact that his mom had started dating). All too fast, Sue was dropping her daughter off at the Uley home with a warning to be careful. A very _stern_ warning. Leah blushed and agreed before scampering up to the door and ringing the bell.

Sam opened it almost immediately, and greeted her with a long, loving kiss. Leah slammed the door shut with her foot as the travelled throughout the house, still kissing her boyfriend. She was surprised when she realized that she had no interest, none at all, in stopping kissing him. Usually when they greeted each other it was a brief peck on the lips, but…this time it was something more. Maybe it was because they knew no one else was home, but suddenly they were falling onto Sam's bed as their tongues explored each other's mouths. Eyes wide, Leah pulled away and said something she never thought she would have enough courage to admit.

"Sam," she breathed, "I'm on birth control. My…my mom started me a year ago, but I didn't tell you because I thought I wasn't ready." She closed her eyes, attempting to pull all her bearings together. "But now…I want to do it. I want to have sex with you."

Leah could feel Sam getting more and more turned on during all of this, and with a smile she began to kiss him again, taking his stiff dick as an approval. Her mind ran rampant with all the things she knew, and all the things she was totally guessing on. Finally, she pulled her shirt over her head then threw it on the floor carelessly. Her lips ghosted over Sam's neck, dipping across his jaw and then finding their way back to his lips. Sam moaned and promptly took off his own shirt before tracing his fingers across her back. He began to unclasp her bra, but his fingers were clumsy and it's not like he had done it before. Finally, he managed to get one undone.

It took several more times and the murmured encouragement of Leah when he undid the second and third clasps. "Good job," Leah smiled halfheartedly. There was an awkward pause, and then she began to shake her pants off. He did as she did, and Leah was shocked to find that Sam was going commando. "Holy shit," she gasped. He turned red, but shrugged.

"Not like I had to go anywhere today," he mumbled. Leah was only left in her panties, and this made her blush terribly…and then they _really _looked at each other. Sam was blown away…her breasts weren't the biggest things he'd seen, but they were still a good size and he found them absolutely beautiful and perfect. Her stomach dipped down, flowing into the bottom part of her body gorgeously. Admittedly, Leah wasn't impressed by his, eh, _size_, but really he was very handsome. He wasn't small per se, just not large.

Grinning, she told him he looked amazing, and that wasn't a lie. She slipped her underwear off easily and promptly fell on top of him. They rolled over so he was hovering over her wet entrance and then, with a slight hesitation, Sam's dick pushed into that opening.

What happened next was so awkward and so embarrassing to the both of them they never really talked about it too much afterward. In fact, Leah gathered up her clothes and sat downstairs watching the television for about an hour before calling her mom for a ride, claiming that she was bored. Sam sat upstairs, utterly mortified and vowing to his self not to ever have sex again (of course, he never _really _planned to stick to that promise.)

Leah called him later that night and apologized for leaving so suddenly, promising they'd talk tomorrow, and that they did. They decided not to try again for a little while and dismissed the attempt at losing their virginities as in the past.

Smiling, they kissed and continued to go on as they had before.


	10. Sam's got a Smile

Hello, kiddies! How're you all doing? *hums* Imma be a mommy soon! Eep! As you can understand, updates still might be a little slow!

Thank you so much to my bestie, laurazuleta18! She beta'd this chapter and is amazingly awesome! *hugs*

Fucking enjoy it, I _like_ this chapter. :)

* * *

Chapter Ten – Sam's got a Smile

"…happy birthday, Dear Sam, happy birthday to _you_," Leah sang softly. He smirked at her from his place at the bed, and patted his chest. She lightly padded her way over and lay on top of him, her naked body molding into his perfectly.

"We've gotten better at this whole fucking thing," he chuckled. She nodded enthusiastically and kissed his nose. Leah raised an eyebrow as she felt his dick tighten considerably more than it already had been and slowly ground her hip into it. He groaned and attacked her neck with his mouth.

"Damn, Lee-lee…stop being such a fucking tease!" he ordered heavily. Leah's eyes narrowed and she pulled back a quick hand before slapping him none too gently across the face. He let out a slight breath of pain through his teeth and she rolled her eyes.

"I give the directions here, Sam. Remember?" For good measure, she squeezed his butt and swatted it. Sam let out a swarthy groan and pleaded with his eyes silently for her to just, god_damn_ it, let him enter her. She kissed his neck a few times and then complied to his wishes excitedly. Sam snagged her waist and they rolled over so he was on top. Leah liked being on top for most of it, but it was easier for both of them when Sam was on top for the best part of all.

He slowly began moving up and down, up and down; _up_ and _down_…his movements became rougher and jerkier as she arched her back, begging for him to go faster as well. He smirked and did as he was obviously requested.

Leah flailed as the pleasure filled her…_real_ pleasure, pleasure she was so sure would make her orgasm. This time wasn't like the first time at all...damn, it was so much more than that. They had done it a few other times, each getting better and better and this was no exception.

"You're so good," she whispered against his sweaty shoulder. He chuckled.

"Well' I'd hope so, babe. This _is_ the seventh time we've had sex," he said smartly. She giggled and then gasped as Sam elicited more pleasure out of her sensitive parts. There were only grunts and the occasional 'fuck damn' as they continued. Finally Leah screeched and fell back to the bed, breathing heavily and with a halting heartbeat.

"Did you have a…_you__know what_, again?" Sam asked excitedly, hoping desperately that he pleased his girl. She beamed.

"I think so! It felt exactly like the last couple times, except maybe even better!" She burrowed her head in Sam's chest. "Oh, Sammy…you did so amazingly. I love you." He kissed her forehead and murmured an 'I love you' right back.

* * *

Rosalie Hale smoothed her hair back and stepped into Forks High School with contempt. She had to do this shit _again_ and she wasn't happy, not at all. Emmett was holding her waist, already letting the school's population of boys know that, yes, she was fucking gorgeous and they could stare and wish she was theirs all she wanted, but it wouldn't do a damn thing because Rosalie was _his_ mate. She smiled.

Rosalie fucking _loved_ it when her Emmett got all territorial.

Alice and Jasper were walking in front of them, their arms around each other as well. Edward, as _usual_, was sulking at in the back of the group. Annoyed, Rosalie thought loudly how ridiculous he was being. At least he could attempt to keep up appearances and act relatively normal on their first day, instead of looking depressed. He growled back and said in their frequency that it she needed to keep her thoughts to herself. She hissed back, but kept her eyes forward.

They had just walked down the hall, and still the rumors were flying around wildly. Everybody was whispering, whispering, whispering… Rosalie tightened her hold on Emmett's hand and kept her chin up. She didn't want to lose it and snap at someone already. It'd be a pity to have to move so soon after arriving. Edward growled softly again, a warning for her to keep her mouth shut.

She scoffed. She hated her brother, sometimes. The tantalizing smell of human penetrated her nose and just to get his goat she took a deep, refreshing breath. Her fangs immediately coated with venom and the need to sink her teeth in the warm flesh immediately won her over. A sense of calm suddenly washed over her, and she knew immediately that Jasper had stepped in. Disappointed that a fight with Edward had been quelled, she glared at the man in front of her.

"Everything is going to be okay, Rosie. We've done this before," Emmett whispered consolingly, "we can do it again."

"Yes," she whined softly, "but school and humans are so _boring_...and ugly. I want something interesting to happen." Emmett smirked.

"Maybe Edward will find a mate." Edward growled angrily from behind his favorite brother, who only laughed. Rosalie's lips quirked upwards.

"Maybe."

* * *

Leah was late.

Not late to school.

Not late to work, mostly because she didn't have a job.

Not even late to watch Seth.

No, she was late for something much,_ much_ worse. Her period was late. Five days. She was supposed to get her period _five__days ago_ and it was freaking her out. She didn't know what to do…how was she to know for sure? Where could she get a pregnancy test without the whole reservation thinking she was a…a slut or something. Leah had only ever slept with Sam, and only those ten times! It wasn't like they were obsessed with it or anything.

The only possible scenario she could come up with was going to the nurse's office and just ask for one…she knew they gave them away because Kat had gone in for them on two different occasions, and Rachel did once as well.

So, Leah stood outside the nurse's station with her hands clenched into tight fists by her side and hovered. She was so damn ashamed and afraid of what she was about to do…get a fucking pregnancy test. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

"Hello dear," an old, concerned voice asked. Leah opened her eyes and plastered a worn smile on her face for the sake of the woman.

"Um…" she paused and leaned in, "I was wondering if, you know, if maybe I could get…get a pregnancy test." The nurse's face immediately fell into an unemotional mask as she quickly nodded and sprang to her feet. I watched as she shuffled through a cabinet and pulled out a small, pink cardboard box. Leah internally cringed as her hands enclosed around the package. The nurse hurriedly whispered instructions, which Leah guessed would be fairly easy to follow: pee on the stick, wait for five minutes, stare at it and pray that only one line appears.

She nodded and made her way to the bathroom. After doing her business, she placed the test on the lid of the toilet and sunk to the floor, keeping her head buried between her knees and just praying that God would be kind to her, because getting pregnant could ruin her entire life. Her parents would never trust her again, Sam would leave her (because what normal teenage guy _would_ stick around, really?) and she would lose so many friends…

No, no…Leah willed herself not to cry, not yet. Not until she was for sure pregnant and that _wasn't _going to happen…no tears. None. She bit her lip and then picked up the test again, figuring the time had to be almost up, anyway. One line had already formed.

So she waited…and waited...and waited. Leah's breath caught as she continued to stare at the test, and jumped when there was a light knock on the door. "Honey, you've been in there an awfully long time… Almost twenty minutes. Are you okay?"

A smile fluttered across her face as she let out a shaky breath and struggled to her feet. Because there was only one fucking line…that was it, only _one_! Giggling, she threw it into the trashcan and flung the door open to find a shocked looking nurse. Upon catching hold of Leah's expression she smiled. "I'm guessing it was a negative?" she asked. Leah could only nod and barely waited for the old woman to write a pass before scurrying out of the room. As she walked to her first class, she muffled a screech of joy.

No baby. No loss of trust. No loss of friends. No loss of a future. No loss of _Sam_. Leah's chest tightened happily as the realization sunk in that her life had avoided being ruined. She wasn't ready to be a mother, not by a long shot. And she wouldn't be for a while.

Later that day, when she pulled her underwear down and saw a little red spot starting to form, she smiled and excitedly inserted a tampon, amusedly thinking she'd never been so happy to get her fucking period.

* * *

A beer in his hand, Joshua Uley unlocked the door to his house clumsily. The girl behind him giggled and pressed her hands on his back. "Come _on_, Josh! I wanna fuck already!" He snickered before managing to turn the knob to one side. He proudly stepped into his home and the girl, Julia, followed suit. She slammed the door shut with her foot and immediately sprang herself at him, attacking his neck viciously with her mouth. He moaned and felt along the wall for his way to his bedroom. It was always more fun to fuck a girl in a bed…well, unless there was a hot tub around but where the hell was he going to find one of those?

Julia hadn't yet made her way to his mouth so he managed to get another swing of beer into his mouth before he threw it against the wall. It made a resounding clatter and he mildly thought that his tenant would be fucking furious…then he remembered he didn't give a damn about what his tenant thought, he was an asshole.

Angrily, he put all his energy into ripping the girl's shirt off and undoing her bra clasps, something he was pretty damn good at. Smirking, he pressed his face in between her breasts. She let out a clipped moan right before he threw her onto his bed. She giggled and wrestled her skirt off. His shirt had already been cast off somewhere between the door and where they were standing, so all he had to do was let his jeans and boxers fall to the floor before he lowered himself on top of her.

They didn't kiss, didn't do a fucking thing, as he entered her. Only moaned and groaned and screeched with delight. Joshua was good at what he did, and Julia was too. They both specialized in one night stands and didn't plan on ruining it for the other one by doing something stupid like developing feelings.

Joshua's mind spun as his dick clenched, clenched harder inside her tightening walls. Panting, Joshua closed his eyes and thought of the woman he stilled loved, pretended it was her he was having sex with instead of this arrogant slut. He thought her name with each thrust and when he finally, _oh god finally,_ burst, he shouted the beautiful name, "ANNA!"

Julia's screech of pleasure quickly turned into one of outrage as her hand rose and proceeded to fly across his face. He rubbed his cheek and scowled at the woman as she picked up her scattered clothes sourly. "Asshole!" she called as she stomped her way out of his house.

"Bitch," he muttered uncaringly. They all did that...left him. Because he always ended up yelling his ex-wife's name. Furiously, he wished that his feelings for her would go the _fuck_ away because he hated them with everything he had…hated that she was always on his mind. Anna had been his life, and then he did something stupid…left her.

Abruptly, he stood and went for the fridge. He had to drink his sorrows away, somehow, and beer usually did the trick. _Yeah_, he thought as he gulped down the liquid, _this'll work_.

* * *

The humid August heat permeated all of Leah's senses as she rushed from Sam's car to her house, because being outside for too long…ugh, it was _miserable_. Sam quickly followed her in and they slammed the door as the cool, conditioned air swam over their sweaty bodies. She let out a sigh of relief and moved to stand nearer to the actual conditioner, where the air was the coldest. Sam shuffled up close to her, but didn't brush against her…mostly because she'd kill him if he did. They were both sweltering.

"Ugh, babe, when we go to college, we are _not _going any place warm," Sam grumbled and stomped his feet a few times. Leah smiled softly and shot him two thumbs up.

"Sounds good to _me,_ baby. Hmm…I don't want to go too far from home so let's say the U of Washington in Seattle?" she suggested. Sam considered it.

"Yeah, actually…it's got a really good department in what I was thinking of studying. And it's usually pretty cool. I think it'd be good, Lee-lee. Let's just hope we both get in!" Sam smiled. Leah raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend.

"Ha, ha, ha-de-freaking ha…we're _getting_ into the same school. Don't even joke about that not happening, okay? I love you too much to be away from you for _all year long_," she complained heavily. Sam rolled his eyes and, despite their sweaty bodies, pulled his girl in for a hug.

He loved her too much for them to be separated too.


	11. The Epilogue: Up, Up, and Away

Okay, this story was fun. :) I started it for NaNoWriMo, obviously didn't exceed *looks at feet* but nevertheless, I'm proud of what it was, what it became. I'm proud I got to write it. This was mainly for me to grow as a writer, and I think I did...by a _lot_. So thank you to anyone who supported me, whether through reviewing or favoring or alerting this story...even just reading it!

Thank you so, _so_ much to all who reviewed this story: myoung228, brankel1, Like-Vines-We-Intertwine, hgmsnoopy, My Cloud is Yellow, and a GINORMOUS thank you to Laurazuleta18, who is my close friend and beta'd this story. Love you all!

For the last time, enjoy!

* * *

The Epilogue: Up, Up and Away

Leah was crying.

It seemed that was all she had done lately…cry and cry and cry. She was crushed, because Sam, her Sam had broken up with her, and she didn't know what to do. They had altered their lives to coordinate with the other's, had made college plans and loved each other in every way possible, and now he had ended it all as if it was…_nothing. _Her heart was in pieces, broken, and she was so damn angry! He had no right to take all of that away from her! No fucking right!

There was a soft knock on her door and she jerked up at the offensive noise. "Go away!" she screamed. The person sighed, and from the pitch of the voice she knew it was Seth…this only deserved to upset her more. "Seth, go _away!" _she ordered hysterically.

To her relief, he _did_ go away. She just wanted to be left alone.

Horrible as it was, she had seen it approaching those last couple of weeks. About six weeks ago, Sam had gone missing. Leah had completely lost her mind with worry but at least she had been too busy, too determined to be able to cry. She had focused all of her attention on finding him. And then, he suddenly returned.

Worst part of it all? She had broken up with him first. He refused to tell her anything, not even a peep, so what was she supposed to do? He could have been cheating on her, doing anything! It made her so upset, so sad. So _angry_. And then he'd come back begging and pleading for her to forgive him.

He told her that he didn't know what happened or why he was gone and that confused her greatly. But seeing him like that...so defeated...it tugged at her heart. So she forgave him and they began to ever so slowly mend their relationship.

Leah was still hurting, though. So she invited Emily down to comfort her, just for some girl time. Sam happened to stop by, and he was acting so weird. Leah didn't understand. And then he saw Emily, his mouth hung open and the look that he gave her made Leah's insides boil because she had only ever seen a glimpse of that expression when they had sex. But there he was, staring wide-eyed at Emily like she was a fucking goddess. Leah was about to snap at him when he bolted out of the house like a maniac.

She didn't see Sam for another two days. He asked her to meet him by the rocks so she did...and he ended it. Right then and there. There was such flatness in his tone and he refused to meet her eyes. Leah screamed at him to come back as he jogged away from her like a coward would.

So here she was now, sitting and rocking like a freaking baby. She hated seeming so weak but she was allowing herself two weeks of this. Two weeks of grievance for four years of love...it didn't seem fair, but Leah knew she could do this. She knew she could get over Sam, even though she had thought he would be the love of her life. Obviously she wasn't good enough for him.

Somewhere in the house, she could hear the shrill ring of the telephone though it didn't jar her from her misery.

That is, until her mother screamed. Leah bolted out of her position and raced down the stairs as fast as she could because contrary to her emotional state, her mother was so much more important.

"Leah," she whispered as she slipped on a pair of shoes, "Leah, it's Emily. She's gotten hurt...she's in the hospital."

And then she was racing to the car, because Emily was her best friend and that was worse than all of it put together.

Two weeks later, Leah stood in the doorframe of Emily's hospital room and watched as her ex-boyfriend and best friend kissed. She didn't understand. Her mind whirled. There was no way this could be happening; no way these two people who supposedly cared, or _had_ cared about her could do this! No, no, no...

They had to have heard the door open and later Leah figured they thought she was a nurse or something. She didn't care. At that moment, all she could think of was that they knew she was there and they wanted her to see, just to torment her.

The betrayal dug deeper than she ever thought it could have. A small gasp of pain escaped her lips and their heads snapped up at the sound. They looked horrified and ashamed, but she was ashamed of herself for trusting them with her feelings, with her heart. A tear fell down her cheek.

They both opened their mouths, probably to apologize or say other shit Leah had no interest in hearing. They couldn't even get a syllable out before she was gone, running down the hall and away from Sam and Emily.

Even when she was out of the hospital it wasn't enough...she needed to be farther away from those...fuck she didn't even have a word for them! She escaped as fast as she could. Her shoes became constricting, so she kicked them off and continued, willing the tears to just _stop_ because she was sick of them.

Her bare feet thumped across the ground as she ran away in utter despair.

She ran, and she ran, and she ran.

But now; now she would never get far enough away to leave the pain, the bitterness behind. It followed her everywhere.

The shame was the worst; its claws had sunk deep into her skin, refusing to fall no matter how hard she bucked.

But it was still anger that overwhelmed all other senses that made her scream and kick and want to rampage everything in sight.

She _could_ kill him…

No. She couldn't.

As much as she wanted to, she couldn't.

He would always have a piece of her; Leah had indeed handed it over herself, and it was the type of thing that was impossible to return.

"_How the fuck could you do this to me?_" her words were distorted with hurt and madness and she screamed one last time before sinking to her knees, sobbing until she passed out.


End file.
